"Baker" by Lisa

Lisa's next:

I didn't go with my mom's favorite food per se, but rather her love of baking and what a wonderful baker she was. She and I owned a bakery for about five years before she received her first cancer diagnosis and we had to close shortly thereafter.

Journaling reads:

Baking was always Noona’s passion. Wonderful goodies were always coming out of the kitchen as I was growing up. Some of my favorites were harvest loaf, venetians, French dressing chicken, and sour cream coffee cake. Even though she was an amazing baker and cook, Noona would go anywhere to find great food and baked goods. Noona and I started Baking Buddies in 1995 as a catering business out of Noona’s kitchen in Westford, MA. It progressed into a storefront in Tyngsboro, MA at Flint’s Corner in 1997. Noona was able to cook and bake to her heart’s content and try new recipes in a 1,200 square foot store, complete with a commercial kitchen and cafe. It gave her great pleasure to feed people and take care of them. 

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Remember, due to the holidays and such, both this challenge and the previous one (with the beautiful holiday inspired prize by PixiePetals) are due on Saturday, November 28 (by midnight). Post your take on the challenges online and link us up in the comments of the appropriate challenge post. (So, for this challenge, be sure to comment under the original challenge post for your chance to win a copy of my book, okay?)

"Blogged 6-21-09" by Stacey

Here's Stacey:

This challenge is one that inspired several layout ideas for me. I finally chose to use a set of photos from summer 2006 and a blog entry from Father’s Day of this year to do this layout about my dad and chocolate chip cookies. The journaling is a bit different than usual for me because I had written this particular blog entry to an audience (a rather small one, to be sure) and it reads almost like a letter to someone, which is exactly what it is. 

I am pretty sure that my dad wouldn’t have really liked this photo because I caught him in the act of munching on a cookie, but it is the only one I got of him that day, so I used it.  I truly just love that I have the photo at all! 

In the past Good Grief challenges, I have stuck to mostly solid cardstock with very basic patterned backgrounds and minimal embellishing. I just don’t seem to be able to make these layouts very colorful or fluffy, possibly because they have mostly been about grief and also because they are masculine. I feel like I made this one a little more fun, a little less somber, although I may be the only one to really notice a difference.  

I hope this challenge inspires you to record some special food-related memories of your loved one! 

Journaling:

Happy Father's Day. 

If you have your dad still, I hope you got to love on him a little bit today. I am missing mine very much on this day. I was thinking about him, getting a little teary-eyed, and then realized it was Father's Day... I guess it makes sense. 

I'd have taken him homemade chocolate chip cookies today, one container for everyone else and one just for him. He always got possessive about the cookies I made him and I finally realized he was better off not having to share! I always gave him a shirt, too. He just always liked a new shirt. No surprises, really. When he died, one of the worst moments I had in the days following was when I opened his closet to get something. Something about all his clothes organized so perfectly... 

It's been quite a while since I have felt it so intensely. I really, really miss him. 

And I am wearing mascara for the first time in at least a week...what timing. Oh, well, it feels strangely comforting to cry a little bit and just miss my daddy. 

Hug your dad today! 

{he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. Isaiah 25:8} 

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Remember, due to the holidays and such, both this challenge and the previous one (with the beautiful holiday inspired prize by PixiePetals) are due on Saturday, November 28 (by midnight). Post your take on the challenges online and link us up in the comments of the appropriate challenge post. (So, for this challenge, be sure to comment under the original challenge post for your chance to win a copy of my book, okay?)

Coping with Loss

Just a quick little note to say that you should check this out. Powerful stuff.

"Love Chinese" by Tania

Here's Tania:

I'm loving the lighter side of documenting my loved one this time around.  Never in a million years would I have thought to scrapbook about Mom's favorite food.  What I love even more is that my girls both have an extreme love of Chinese food too!  Eating Chinese is something Mom and I would do together any chance we could get.  Since my girls love it so much, I've tried to continue that experience with them. So, just about every time they have a doctor visit, I've made it tradition that we go get some Chinese food after the appointment.  And, every time it gives me the chance to tell them once again how much their Grammy loved Chinese food too.  This is usually met with a thousand other questions from them about what else she liked and I love telling them all I can remember.

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Remember, due to the holidays and such, both this challenge and the previous one (with the beautiful holiday inspired prize by PixiePetals) are due on Saturday, November 28 (by midnight). Post your take on the challenges online and link us up in the comments of the appropriate challenge post. (So, for this challenge, be sure to comment under the original challenge post for your chance to win a copy of my book, okay?)

"Some of the Foods" & "Same Place" by Amanda

My dad loved food...loved it. It honestly didn't matter what it was, he just loved to eat it. :) This challenge, then, came fairly easily. In my head, I'd already been making a list of the foods that especially make me think of him...foods that bring up images of him whenever I see them or my boys ask for them. 

Even though this layout doesn't particularly tell a story, I love that I have this list all in one place...just like I'm thrilled when seeing or eating one of these foods leads to discussions with my boys about what else their Papa loved. ;)

After I'd finished the layout above, though, I still had food on the brain. As so often happens, I started thinking about things I want to make sure my boys know about their Papa. Thus, this layout:

 
Yup, just a silly little memory, but one I wanted to share. :)

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Remember, due to the holidays and such, both this challenge and the previous one (with the beautiful holiday inspired prize by PixiePetals) are due on Saturday, November 28 (by midnight). Post your take on the challenges online and link us up in the comments of the appropriate challenge post. (So, for this challenge, be sure to comment under the original challenge post, okay?)