#atozchallenge, A is for Angel…

 

because I’m an April baby, and that’s my birthstone angel that my mother and I made 16 years ago after my dad passed away.  Mom had come back from Arizona to inter my father’s ashes at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery about 50 miles southwest of Chicago.

It’s a very impressive sight, a little like Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, with rows of granite headstones and plaques rather than white crosses.  The cemetery was opened in recent years because of the growing need for burial space as WWII veterans reached their 80s and 90s.

When things had quieted down after the initial memorial service and gathering of family, I wasn’t sure how to keep my mother occupied as she grieved and tried to decide what she wanted to do next with her life.

So while she stayed with us, she and I assembled quite a few of these little angels made from different colored birthstone beads and golden pins to sell at craft shows.  I’m not sure, but I think being surrounded by all those angels made getting through the next few weeks a little easier for us both.

~Diane D.

(My theme for the A to Z Challenge is birthdays)