Luis

In the fall semester of my sophomore year of university I developed a huge crush on a guy named Luis (but everyone called him Lou).  We shared one class - French Speaking World. I noticed him the first day and thought he was kind of cute.  Over the course of the semester we slowly got to chatting and he helped me out now and then with classwork.  The more I got to know him, the more I realised what a wonderful guy he was.  He was sweet, gentle and kind - always willing to help people out with anything they might need.  He was a senior education major and would be starting student teaching in the spring.  He was an active member of his church and regularly volunteered at a soup kitchen.  He loved ice hockey and Led Zeppelin.  


On the last day of the semester he stopped by my dorm to see me.  I was suffering with a nasty cold and was quite pathetic but he sat and we chatted for a bit.  We exchanged Christmas cards and promised we'd send each other a postcard over the holiday.  Before he left he gave me a huge hug and my heart melted.  This was one heck of a crush.  Maybe after Christmas break I'd have the courage to let him know how I felt.


On January 5th, 1995 I received a postcard from him and was like a giddy school girl.  When I got back to my dorm later that month the first thing I did was call him.  A guy answered the phone.
"Hi, can I speak to Lou?"
Long pause and then a reply.  "Who is this?"
"This is Jen, his friend from school.  I just got back from break."
"Didn't anyone tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Lou was killed in  car crash on January 5th."


Lou was driving with his parents when their car was struck by a 16 year old who lost control of his car.  Lou was killed instantly.  His dad was in hospital for a long time and his mom suffered minor injuries.  The guy on the phone was Lou's brother.


I was destroyed and struggled with the loss for a long time.  For years after, whenever there was a wish to be made (birthday candles, shooting stars), I wished that Lou was still around and in my life.  


Fast forward to 2007.  I was finally coming out of a wretched 2 years.  I was a mess after my marriage ended and found myself in a number of very unhealthy relationships (with guys and with alcohol).  In January 2007 I broke up with the latest guy and quit drinking. I spent the next few months focusing on me.  I finally overcame the desperate fear that no one else would ever love me.  I reconnected with girlfriends but also spent a lot of time with my dogs just rediscovering the world around me and my own company.  I even started to enjoy the freedom of being single.  


In May 2007 we were having renovations done on our building at work.  Most of the crew were Portuguese guys from the Azores (there's a big Azorean Portuguese community here in Bermuda).  One carpenter in particular caught my eye.  He was tall and a bit skinny but he had the biggest, cheekiest grin I'd ever seen.  After a few weeks of winks and shy smiles we finally had our first conversation - sort of.  He barely spoke English and my Portuguese was limited to a few words.  At the end of our "chat" I asked his named.  "Luis," he said before writing his number on my hand and walking away.  


I didn't know if I should call him.  I mean, what did I think we would talk about?  However, armed with my Portuguese/English dictionary we began to meet up and ever so slowly get to know each other.  He, like my other Luis, turned out to be a kind and gentle soul.  He is one of the most selfless people I've ever met and would do anything for those he cares about.  His family is hugely important to him and his mother and 3 sisters trained him well - he can cook and clean with the best of them and, thankfully, is as tidy as I am!  He is also an animal lover and, unlike with my previous boyfriends, my dogs adored him from day one.   


Everyone (including me) thought I was nuts and that clearly I was still going through post-divorce lunacy.  But the weeks and months rolled on and we spent more and more time together.  When he invited me to the Azores to meet his family I knew he was serious about me and in November 2009 we got engaged.


Today is our 1 year wedding anniversary.  Luis is still as sweet and loving as when we first got together.  We still make each other laugh every day and speak our own little language of "Portuglish".  I am so very blessed to have found him.  I feel like maybe Lou had a hand in helping me make it through those rough times and in leading me to Luis once he knew I'd be ready to accept him.  For that, I'll be forever grateful.

Lou

Luis

Birthday Chicks

I am knackered after a 12 hour shift at work but I wanted to get this posted before I forget and miss the challenge all together (as we know I tend to do...).  I love the super fun, bright colours from this week's ColourQ challenge.  (In fact, I love their colour combos most weeks!)  I'm also going to post this at Unity's Tweet Tweet challenge since it's a card full of birdies which is this month's theme. 

I used a few different stamps for the card.  The chicks are from Unity's April Kit of the Month which arrived in my mailbox on Tuesday - everything always arrives a little late here in Bermuda.  :)  The party hat is from Lawn Fawn and the flags are from Hero Arts. All the paper is Stampin' Up.  

Hope you all have a lovely day tomorrow!  Nighty night!  :)

Live in the Moment

Lots of pink going on in this week's Picture Perfect Creations challenge.  Not generally my favourite colour although I've been digging Melon Mambo lately for some reason. Guess there might be a girl inside me trying to claw her way out after all!  :)  

This week I incorporated the colours solely with ink and kept it simple.  I love this Hero Arts sentiment.  The swirliness of it makes me think butterflies so I pulled out these PTI lovelies to go with it.  

Supplies: Stamps: HA, PTI; Inks: SU Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette

Off to exercise the hounds.  Jem is giving me his soulful "I am so neglected" eyes right now. If I don't respond quickly enough he may take a pillow hostage!  Later, gators!  

Flowers and Spiders

I'm determined to get my Just Add Ink entry in on time this week!  The challenge is Just Add a Flower.  I've combined it with this week's Wee Memories challenge which is paper piecing.

Hero Arts has so many big layered flower images that are great for paper piecing.  I used some My Mind's Eye paper that came free with a magazine (whoo hoo for freebies!).  I thought it was a bright and colourful mom-esque card so I added mom sentiment.  I had fun with the bling too.  :)  

Supplies: PP: My Mind's Eye; Stamps: HA, Elzybells, Inks: VersaFine Onyx Black, Palette Jardin Moss; Bling: Doodlebug

Remember that big ole' wolf spider I mentioned in this post?  Well, his much smaller brother came to visit and this time I got a picture. 

This dude was about half the size of the last one and a lot faster.  He got away from me before I could relocate him outside.  Guess that means I'll be seeing him again at some point...

My Top 5 Tuesday - Comic Strips

Top 5 Comic Strips
1.  Garfield
2.  Get Fuzzy
3.  Calvin & Hobbes
4.  The Far Side
5.  Archie

If You Obey All The Rules...

Last week I busted out my shorts and everyone was talking about how summer is here. Today, however, I had to retrieve my jeans and sweatshirt from the back of the closet as the temperature went back down into the high 60s and there was a strong north wind.  Brrr! Better warm up again by May 24th or I won't be putting so much as a toe in the water. (May 24th is a public holiday and traditionally the first day of the year that Bermudians go for a swim.  I usually don't make it in until sometime in July when the water is at least 80 degrees!).  


I haven't played along with The Play Date Cafe in awhile but I liked their colours this week.  

I love this tree from Unity - it's what drew me to this particular set in the first place.  I also like the fun Hero Arts sentiment.  The four trees remind me of that segment from Sesame Street - "One of these kids is doing his own thing."  Do they still do that on SS these days?

Supplies: CS: Bazzill; Stamps: Unity, HA: Inks: VersaFine Onyx Black, SU Basic Grey; Copics: YG23, R27; Bling: Basic Grey; 

April Reading Round-Up

This has been a dismal month in terms of getting through books.  However, I continue to blame my progress on the abundance of fantastic blogs that eat into my reading time!  I also read the following weekly magazines and newspapers: People, US Weekly (yes, I do read some trash!), the New York Times Sunday edition; and the following monthly magazines: Company, Real Simple, Bark.  There is always something being read - even if it's not the books that I'm supposed to be plowing through!     

"Maybe a Miracle" by Brian Strause
        Despite 16-year-old Monroe Anderson's efforts to save his sister, Annika, from drowning, she slips into a coma.  Strange, "miraculous" events begin to occur.  Narrated by Monroe, "Miracle" tells the story of the following few years and how very differently each of his family members react to Annika's coma and the mysterious events occurring around her.

"Scent of the Missing" by Susannah Charleson - Recommended
        A memoir of the the author's experiences training Puzzle, her first search and rescue dog.  Not only is it interesting in terms of learning something about SAR dogs but it is a beautiful story of the love, trust and friendship that develops between Susannah and Puzzle.

"Abide With Me" by Elizabeth Strout
        This was a bit of a struggle.  I loved Strout's first book ("Amy and Isabelle") but this one took me a lot longer to get into.  Once I had a decent chunk of time to devote to it I enjoyed it but it's not the kind of book that should be read in little snatches here and there.  Strout's writing is beautiful and her books always have a strong sense of place - the town's they're set in often seem like characters in their own right.