eye spy dear pretties....

Instead of doing a 'want/ need' post, I decided to do something different....
 

I have wanted and needed so many things for that segment, that I have run out of things to write about on those subjects! I am not sure that this will be a permanent segment (I kinda like the way "eye spy dear pretties" sounds though), but for today it felt right.

It was an evening for letting my mind wander on the world wide web. It started when a friend (who is grieving the loss of a loved one) and I started an exchange of writings about grief. I sent her a poem that one of my blog followers sent me when I lost my dad and then my dog last year.

This is my first 'dear pretty', and yes it is about death, but this poem stuck with me and I have shared it with others many times because it helped me during my emotional time of need, and I think it is absolutely beautiful.....

Here is the pretty poem by Henry Van Dyke:

 and then my friend sent me THIS ARTICLE about grieving. Empathy has been a common topic of discussion in the last year, because when all of this happened, I realized more than ever, the tender-hearted-ness of the people that were in my life as well as perfect strangers. This world has a lot of good and beautiful people and things in it, and in moments sadness, or after a good ugly cry because of a trigger reminder, I tend to look at the 'pretties' in my life. 'Pretties' to me, are big-hearted people, things, or anything beautiful really, that shift me back into my natural state of being satisfied with my little life.

Yesterday I had a little wave of emotion come over me where I was really feeling nostalgic about my dad and how nurturing he had become to me and my brother in his last years. How I was sad that I didn't get to have more years of that, and I kind of sent myself on a tailspin of self pity... Then I logged into Facebook and saw these two posts that immediately reminded me that whatever it is you are feeling, there's a pretty good chance that someone else is sharing in that feeling somewhere around the world. To be honest, I do not even know these people personally - don't think I've ever actually met them, but we have somehow connected through Facebook, and seeing their posts - and seeing that myself and these two were all feeling nostalgic about our daddies at pretty much the same time (within minutes), somehow made me feel better and not alone in my feelings. Thanks for that, Facebook...

Now on to more simple pretties.......

Of course now that I have Eddie, I am drawn to look at other Goldens and compare them to him. None have matched his beauty so far ;)

This is a photo of Elizabeth Taylor with her Golden from waaaaaay back:

another pretty:

Everyone knows I love thrifting, and that image defines how I feel when it has been a good day out at the thrift stores, The source web page where I got the photo above is pretty as well and you can check it out HERE.

....annnnd this pretty teal kitchen has me thinking.... It may be time for a little painting soon.