The Freshman Honors History class of Walt Whitman High School (which also happens to be US News & World Report's number 44 out of over 21,000 public schools in United States) traveled from DC to NYC and back last Wednesday. A 5 am to midnight trip (ah! youth). I adore NYC and was eager to see if Kelly fell in love with it too. She did, oh yes, she did. From Ellis Island to 30 Rock, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the Carnegie Deli, Anthropologie and of course J.Crew, she had a mini-tour of what the city has to offer.
I loved it when she came home and showed me her photos. "Some of these are art shots," she said. Yep, she's her mother's daughter – the only one that seems to be following in her mother's footsteps. I'm proud, very proud. Oh and did I mention she made the Honor Roll at this most excellent school?
But the best part by far was that amidst the glitz and glitter, the hustle and bustle that is NYC, she stopped inside St. Patrick's to light a candle in memory of my Mother. It will be one year come Christmas morning that she has been gone. This is a hard time for us all. The daily doses of love and family make it easier for us all to bear. This was Mom's season. I know she's watching over us and has her part in creating times such as this.
She is a beautiful girl, and so glad she is following in your foot-steps.
Leslie –
I am one of (no doubt) MANY who adore your work, and who faithfully read and your blog posts, but who have not previously written to you. Hearing you talk about your mom, however strikes a particularly resonant chord as you face this first anniversary of her death.
My dad passed away Christmastime 1979, my darling, brave young mother having preceded him Valentine’s Day of 1972 when I was 11. It does get less acutely painful – thankfully! – but not a day goes by that I don’t remember and miss them.
Like you, I am sooooo grateful to be surrounded by loved ones as we joyfully muddle through this sometimes heartbreaking, always stunningly wondrous life.
My best to you as you face this first Christmas without your beloved mother’s physical presence. And thank you so much for all the beauty of art and spirit you continually send into this world!
-Kandice
My eyes are misty reading this. What a beautiful tribute to 3 women.
~Judy
Ny must be a very magical place in winter…
Aye-yiyi, that’s KELLY? How fast they grow. She’s beautiful, and so are her pictures.
I feel for you on the approaching anniversary of your mother’s passing. In five days it will be 15 years since my mother died. I’m sad, but I still feel her presence; I’m sure your mother somewhere, somehow, knows how much you have accomplished this year, and is as proud of you as you are of Kelly.