Tag: friendship

Laurel and Me

Dear Liza,

I want to share with you some stories about my dear friend and former teaching partner, Laurel. We met in 1988, when we were being interviewed for two Developmental Kindergarten positions in Salinas.

This was going to be my first professional position, but Laurel was making a change in profession, from Physician’s Assistant to teacher. I grew to admire her wealth of knowledge and skills, as well as her “we’re going to get this done” attitude.

We made a perfect partnership, really. She was great at planning, but I was better at ad libbing when the plans went off the rails. We both loved working hard and making our classroom a rich, beautiful learning environment.

The four years we worked together were the most rewarding, exhausting years of my 30 year career. And since then, I have been blessed to have Laurel in my life. She celebrated weddings in the family…

Celebrating in 2004


and came around for Mother’s Day brunches at Katie’s house.

Hanging out with Cousins in 2018

We moved to Portland years after she moved to Ashland, and even though we are at opposite ends of the state, we get together occasionally. I had lunch with her, her husband Milton, Auntie Bridgett and Grandpa Nelson just this past weekend!

Laurel is still in my life, and my life is better for it.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Painting Islands…. On Fabric?

Dear Liza,

Since I retired from teaching, my brain is like a kid in kindergarten, always finding something new. I opened a cupboard and found things to write about, so I wrote… for months and months.

Writing and writing..

Then I opened another cupboard and there was fabric, so I sewed.

Sewing and sewing…..

And now I have found the paint cupboard. First gouache, then watercolors. And, like a kindergartener, I have friends with ideas that feed my ideas. “Come join my painting group,” said Ruthie. I did, and it has been wonderful. Art, silliness, and learning all come together in the magic proportions that teachers strive for.

Painting little crabby friends….

I posted the islands I was painting and dear Elaine said, “I’ll bet you could put those islands on fabric, and maybe even quilt them.” Well, it turns out that you can paint on fabric with regular acrylic paints if you add a bit of “gac” paint medium. Auntie Bridgett had some, because of course she did.

I spent a day looking at maps of all the islands I love. The Big Island of Hawaii. Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland. Treasure Island from Robert Louis Stevenson. Tiny Gabriola Island in the Strait of Georgia. Neverland. Sketch, reconsider, sketch.

Pencils first….

And finally I started painting my first fabric island. After smooth gouache and watercolors, the acrylic and muslin felt heavy and clumsy, but I kept at it.

The Big Island of Hawaii, as I have it so far…

I am still not totally happy with it, but I will get better if I just keep practicing. It seems a bit flat. Hmmmmm… Maybe I can add embroidery or even some beads. Maybe my friends will give me some good ideas.

Love,

Grandma Judy