Love Never Dies, it Just Changes Shape and Form The post Awaken Love, JOY and PEACE From a Box appeared first on Aging In Place.

What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.

?Agnes M. Pahro

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Aging in Place

Somehow the mystical magic of the Holidays appears (if you are awake to it), even in the midst of being bludgeoned with commercialism.

The other day I was opening a small box of some glitter cloaked letters my mother loved to display each season. Silver and gold sparkling J O Y / P E A C E became a familiar aesthetic around our celebrations.

My mother was the MOST creative and artistic being I�ve ever encountered�she had a different kind of filter on the world. Special events like Christmas were showcases for her, as she would go into creative mode and dazzle everyone�s senses with delight and awe.

As a child it just seemed normal to witness such stunning displays of genius each year. I frankly took it for granted�until we visited other homes with pedestrian out-of-the-box holiday d�cor. I was aesthetically spoiled; each gift was wrapped with such artistry it was nearly sinful to unwrap. I was fortunate beyond measure.

Christmas Magic

As I opened the small box with my mother�s beautiful cursive writing on the outside �Holiday letters� I encountered a cut-out Santa card inside: TO Zita (my mother) FROM Santa, written in my Aunt Ann�s equally beautiful cursive. All these years I didn�t realize the glittery letters were a gift from my aunt to my mother.

They are both gone now, and sadly the Holidays are missing their essential ingredients�but the magic must continue. . .

JOY and PEACE

In the spirit of my mother�s creativity and my Aunt�s Love, I took a salvaged plank of wood (retrieved from the Columbia River), painted it with one coat of GOLD spray paint, then sprinkled some of my Aunt�s ashes on the surface (see the course texture on the plank surface) and coated it with a second spray of paint.

Next I hung the SPARKLING letters J O Y on the board, added silver stars. Now my Aunt and Mother will be joining our celebration in a special and creative way; Love never dies, it just changes shape and form.

Don�t it always seem to go that you don�t know what you�ve got till it�s gone�

~ Joni Mitchell / BIG YELLOW TAXI

Happy Holidays!

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See

RIVER by Joni Mitchell

*Author note: Perhaps you too have ashes of a loved one and could create a Holiday meaningful object with them as well.

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