There are some dates you never forget....

There are some dates you never forget, and for me November 13th is one of those. It was 5 years ago today that my mother died. Although I miss her everyday, some days bring back more memories and feelings than others...and today is one of those days.

The first photo was taken on Mother's and Daddy's 50th wedding anniversary in 1997. Daddy loved this photo of Mother. He has it on his dresser and also put it on the front of her funeral bulletin although the photo was 8 years old. I also have the photo on my dresser.

The next photo was taken the year before Mother's death at my daughter's wedding reception. The two "Carolyns" had a special relationship. I think the photographer caught the two of them sharing a special moment.How lucky my children were to have their grandparents at their weddings. I only wish that my mother could have seen her two great-grandsons. She so wanted to be a great-grandmother. I think it is particularly neat that both boys have family names from her father's side of the family. Haiden's middle name is Parker, and then of course, there is Garrett. Both of my mother's parents' families arrived in Accomack County, Virginia, in the 1600's.

Perhaps you may remember my adaptation of Little by Little's Ann Pennsylvania Peacock sampler. Since this was not a reproduction sampler, I decided to personalize it to honor my mother.

Over the past few months I've been doing some genealogy work, particularly on Mother's family. In some aspects it's easy because her family has been in Accomack County on the Eastern Shore for 400 years. It does get confusing at times because there are so many people with the same or similar names.

Some of you know of my strong feelings towards Virginia, and in particular towards Accomack County. I guess it comes as no surprise that I was enthralled by the Accomack County sampler of Elizabeth J M Mears that was reproduced by Barb of Queenstown Samplers. Not only is it an Accomack County sampler, it is a real beauty. I loved it so much that I chose it as a 2011 SAL project for my newsletter, With My Needle and Pen. Starting in January, Barb will lead the group with stitching Elizabeth's sampler. Barb will also be sharing lots of information. I can hardly wait!! True confession time--I didn't wait. Last week I started on Elizabeth's sampler. I'm not very far along, but I'm certainly enjoying the piece. Perhaps I'll show a photo of my progress in a few weeks.

I thought that today would be a good day to stitch on Elizabeth's sampler. I can honor both Elizabeth and my mother, two gals from Accomack County.