Alzheimer's and my Dad

I was missing my Dad terribly yesterday. You see, he has advanced Parkinson's Disease and Alzheimer's. He was diagnosed back in 2005. Valentines Day was his favorite holiday to surprise "his girls". It was always a loving fun holiday with little tokens of Love. My husband and I do this sort of thing with our children and each other- surprise them with a small heartfelt gift or some chocolates or it could be flowers. It's always from the heart and always a surprise :-) Maybe this is why I adore heart shaped jewelry items, it stemmed from Valentines Day with my parents. We always received a heart of some sort- I still have many of the items I've received as a child from that holiday, I plan on gathering them together and making a scrapbooking lay about it (it'll be one of those artsy type pages).

What triggered it all was being in an antique shop yesterday. We're still on the hunt for a traditional piece of furniture that will hold our electronics in the living room/lounge. Ikea is fine for my Scrapbook Nook but not for my living room. So there I was looking at odds and ends, bric-a-brac and whatnot's when I stumbled upon this tea cup set the pattern on it was Dogwood Blossoms. Dogwood Blossoms- my dad's favorite flower. Right then and there I knew that I had to buy it! What a treasure for me to find yesterday. I also found a piece of furniture although I did not buy it (need to measure it first and see if it would work in the space). So there I was, my heart felt lonely as it missed my Dad. It's been a year since I saw him last- and on my last visit he did not recognize me.

I promise to not be so melancholy today. I'll be filling my time making some sweet treats for my family, planning a Valentines day dinner to rock their socks off and making cute little gift containers for neat gifts for my children.