So little time to say hello and much too soon to say goodbye. Although I never met Larry person to person, we communicated by emails. I got to know him by supplying him with a bunch of green japanese maples to use for his grafting. Larry was a generous, giving person, always seemingly thinking of others. I'll miss you, friend. Lynn

Thanks Kym, thats why we built the pond today partly in her memory. She loved to try and take the fish out of my little pond and fountain in the front so we never planned to put any fish in the back or she would eat them. He got up this morning and decided to put in the pond and we will have goldfish in it and plant a little memorial garden around it for Mercedes. He is over there again looking at her pics. I am so sad for him. I am going to post the video again for those who didn't see it the last time. It was really funny like a doggie version of bobbing for apples, lol. Here is a link that might be useful: dogone fishing

I want to preface what I am about to say with that it is coming from a place of heartfelt concern. I know sometimes messages can read rudely so know that that is not my intent. I feel like if as a child someone made negative remarks about your appearance in any capacity and you are still carrying that, you should consider getting counseling. It would allow you to release that and move on. I was in counseling at age 19 (not for remarks about my appearance) and it was a major turning point in my life. I would highly recommend it. I got jokes about being short my whole life and it hasn't affected me in any capacity. It is what it is. I'm short, so what? It doesn't change my life, I am responsible for how I feel not anyone else. Life has serious moments, but life as a whole isn't serious. Love, laugh and realize that nobody is perfect, everyone has something. I have an unsymmetrical nose, it's far from perfect, but I'm not self conscious about it. I wouldn't dare "fix" it. While you all are entitled to an opinion on how people raise their children, just know that so am I. I don't believe we should shield our children in bubbles. If my son had real anxiety about his height that's one thing, but he doesn't. He's annoyed because he's the oldest and he's a very driven kid. He doesn't think he's going to stay 5'6" forever. He also knows that his paternal grandfather grew 12" just a few years before adulthood. He's the oldest, he just want to feel like the oldest. Perhaps it's that we aren't people who get hurt by little things. We've had big issues to deal with in our family. My children aren't shielded from those big issues, like having an uncle who has schizophrenia and is un-medicated. They get to actually learn about the illness and develop empathy for people who are in the same position as their uncle. Learning to have a sense of humor about things we can not change is a huge positive life skill. If you dwell on the negative you're only harming yourself. Editing to add that I'd like to make it clear that we don't go out of our way to say comments to him and all we've said is when he comments on his brother's height is about the protein. I've never said anything in a disparaging way to my children and want to make that clear.

Aha! I thought that was you, Thyme. I just didn't want to point it out without your permission. lol So amazing to have photos to look back on. I never made it to any of the CT swaps or the Plymouth swaps, so I never did meet Claire in person, which I'm sorry that I didn't. Sounds like you had a great time. I recognize the person on the far left who used to be active here, but I don't remember her name. She moved South and stopped coming to the NE forum. She used to post to the Winter Sowing forum too. She was at a swap in Lexington that I attended once a long time ago. I had a small connection to Jane in that my husband grew up spending summers in Plymouth on the cliffs which had to be right in the same neighborhood that Claire was in. Same view. So I enjoyed every time she posted photos of her garden and the view of the Harbor through the trees. Thyme, you're right, so many old posts pop up from time to time and Claire's posts are still there. And of course, all the photos of her garden are on the Show Us Your Landscape thread. The forum is less active without her already.