Thank you guys so much for everyone who entered our 15 Months Waiting Art Giveaway. I won’t lie, just about the only reason I semi enjoy these giveaways is because of all the kind and encouraging comments and all the prayers that are being prayed over our little Kelley family. It is just so encouraging and I cannot say Thank You enough.
And the winner of this months canvas is…
#202 Gretchen. Super congrats Gretchen and check your email for a message from me.
Today marks 3 months since my Mom passed away. The first thing I do on the 20th of each month is pray for my brother Chris’ day and then text him to let him know I did. My sweet friend Courtney, whose dad passed away shortly before Mom did, always, always, always remembers this day. My phone goes off very early in the morning every 20th and that is strangely a wonderful feeling.
I know monthly anniversaries probably seem silly, but for someone who has lost a loved one and in my personal opinion, they are far from silly. They are important. It seems after the funeral people tend to just forget…life goes on, people get busy, nobody really remembers the significance of that certain day, but Courtney & her family always do and I know it’s because they get grief on a really, crappy level. I don’t know if others feel this way or not, but now that I’m right in the midst of this crazy grief, my mind still just does not comprehend how she can be gone.
Maybe this is the denial part, but I mean, I know my Mom is dead…we watched her be put into the ground and then even stayed for the entire burial. We were the crazy family who out lasted the grounds crew at her service 🙂 Mom was fully buried and the grounds crew long gone, before we left. It was a little odd, but that’s just how we did it. So I don’t argue the fact that she’s actually dead. What I keep asking myself is how someone can just cease to exist anymore. It literally perplexes my mind. I talked to my Mom multiple, and I do mean multiple on the heavy side of multiple, times a day and saw her almost everyday as well. When the phone rings, even still, my first thought is that it’s her. It is just so weird and odd and crazy.
Even before my Mom’s death our house was full of reminders of her and even more so now. It makes me sad and glad at the same time. I especially like these reminders of her for the wee Kelleys. I want to make sure they DO.NOT forget her. We talk about Grammy every single day. I recently made a magnet board for Mom’s old Scrabble board game.
When we first moved into our house over 5 years ago, I wanted a fairly large magnet board for right outside our kitchen. I headed to Home Depot and bought a 18×24 piece of sheet metal, found a frame and that was that. Done and done. It doesn’t get much easier than that.
I knew I wanted to do something similar and visual with Mom’s Scrabble tiles, but wanted it to be a bit different. This project is fairly simple. I started with an old frame my friend Brea didn’t want anymore and left on our back porch. I really dig friends that do things like that 🙂 Thanks Brea! I spray painted the frame red because red was Mom’s favorite color.
I bought a piece 18×24 sheet metal at Home Depot, traced the backing of the frame onto the sheet metal and cut it out. Make sure you always wear gloves when cutting sheet metal. Sheet metal cutters are very inexpensive, but they also usually come in your standard tool box, so make sure you check your tool box before you go buy some.
I wanted it to be a little different than our other magnet board, so I bought a small jar of Mod Podge and found some old wrapping paper I had purchased a while back to cover the sheet metal with.
I covered the sheet metal a section at a time from top to bottom and laid the wrapping paper over top, smoothing it out as I went. After I had the paper all on, I trimmed any excess paper off and added an extra coat of Mod Podge to the top.
Once the sheet metal was dry I just put it into the frame and put the back to the frame back in as well. Magnet board…done and done.
The Scrabble pieces just don’t get much easier. I separated out all the letters and decided how many of each letter I wanted to use.
Then I just hot glued magnets onto the back of each Scrabble tile and added them to the board. And there you have it.
The kids have SO loved this. Harper has been a spelling machine and the boys enjoy helping her find the letters she asks for.
And now we have, yet another, sweet reminder of Mom. It makes me super happy. Hope you will give this project a try.
Have a great Monday.
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Laura, Grief is such a personal experience! I think the way you are dealing with it is wonderful! Most everything you do you still do for her or in memory of her! When we lost my husbands father (May will be 13yrs) I went through the same thing you are. I just could not believe I would not take to him on the phone or see him or just have that special something he would do for us done. I like you to this day continue to make sure my children know who he was and who he would always be to us! I think at times I do that for me so that I can keep those memories alive!! So carry on sweet friend! Always keep your mother close to your heart and in your families lives!!! I still have pictures up everywhere and I love it when people say oh that is Mark’s dad!! I love to explain to them what or why the picture or even a memento of him is there. One day I asked a friend of mine if that was crazy, she laughed and said “Love is Crazy”!!! No….so don’t ever feel like you are crazy! Always feel like you “love”! I love that you share your happiness and your heartache! I love love love the pictures of your mom! She has that contagious smile that keeps the day bright like Sunshine!! Still praying for you!
Love Mylinda
I love the idea of a magnet board! I am so going to make one to hang pictures and things on. Yup, might have to drag my hubby to Home Depot this weekend!
What a beautiful, fun and wonderful way for your kids to celebrated your mom. sending loving prayers to you!
opps sorry “celebrate”!!
Your mother may be gone from this earth but she does not cease to exist – she exists in your heart – in your memories – in your smile and in your children’s eyes – in your creativity. She is gone from this earthly presence and for that I know your heart aches – but she has left so much of herself here – I see her in you and your children and I don’t even really know who you are! So she exists still – you are making sure of that – and sharing her – even if you are not aware of how much.
I used to think that I just didn’t understand death the way I was supposed to because all of the time I “forget” that those who are gone are really gone. For that split second when we pass my grandfather’s house I think he is still inside. When I pass my grandmother’s room I think she might still be inside. Hearing that you do the same with the telephone ringing helps me feel sane.
And I love the magnet board. I will definitely be making one in the summer! I knew I was hanging onto old family board games for a reason!
I get it. I lost my mom almost 4 years ago. I had month anniversaries for quite sometime. It has just recently– I guess in the last year gotten so that I don’t really recognize it being the “22nd” of the month. Pinterest brought me to your blog…glad I took time to visit and read. I will be praying for your family. God’s grace and peace is absolutely incredible and overwhelming! The bad days still come, but the healing in my family (my dad & bro too) has been something else. I didn’t know how I was going to breathe for the first year….then all of the sudden…you can’t remember the last time you had a “huge meltdown.” Blessings.
LOVE THIS IDEA!! I already bought an oil drip pan at Lowe’s to make a magnet board for our foster kiddo to play with magnets on. Because he tends to go wild on my kitchen fridge & when I saw that idea on Pinterest I just HAD to do it! Now I want to do the Scrabble one up higher for me to play with! 😀 He’s still sticking little things in his mouth so until he can manage to not put them in his mouth, they’re gonna be ALL MINE! 😀 Thanks so much for sharing your lovely ideas!
What a beautiful, amazing family you are. I’m incredibly touched by your honesty and openness about how you were feeling and have found such a surge of inspiration from your post. And how very clear that your beautiful Mum radiated love to you all always. I was talking to a friend just yesterday about how we never stop missing our loved ones when they pass away, however, we just get used to the feeling of missing them. I hope all your lovely reminders of your Mum you have around your home continue to make you think of her and smile. Sending love, Max xx
p.s. Your scrabble board is phenomenal!
Hi 🙂 this is a great tribute to your mom ❤️ And a great idea! Where would I find the magnets??
My Mom passed away 6 years ago. It was and is the most devastating time of my life. Scrabble was one game that my Mom and I played often. We could play into the wee hours of the night. I have accumulated several Scrabble games over the years. I will be making one of these as a celebration of those special times of playing. Hopefully my boys will see how fun it is and eventually want to play the actual game but in the meantime having a magnet board will be a good beginning. Thank you and may God bless you for sharing your story with others.
What sized magnets did you use?