DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG

I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot

George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Monday, May 20, 2024

Decorating for Joe's Homecoming

Welcome to Debbie-Dabble Blog!!

I am so happy you decided to stop by!!

Blogging has always been a stress reliever for me along with an avenue to share my passions which are my home and my garden.....

Joe would want me to continue doing what I love to do so with that being said.....

I am going to start posting again on a regular schedule.....

I will be posting on MONDAYS and THURSDAYS....

As always, click on each picture if you would like to enlarge it....

PINTEREST

If you would like to Pin my pictures, please click on them to enlarge them to do so....

A NOTE ABOUT COMMENTS

I enjoy reading your comments and will return the favor by visiting and commenting on your blog or reply to you directly here if you do not have a blog but I do have my comment section set to Moderation due to spammers and hackers so your comment will not appear immediately...

And since I have a very busy life, like most of us do, it may take me awhile to return your comments but I promise I will....

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In my last post, I shared a post that I thought I would never ever have to write," A Celebration of Joe's Life"....

Click HERE if you missed that post!!

I want to Thank Barb, over at French Ethereal, for choosing my post, Spring Front Yard, as one of her features from last week's Share Your Style Linky Party!!!

Thanks so much, Barb!!

I also want to Thank Andrea , over at The Cottage Market, for choosing the same post, Spring Front Yard, as one of her features from last week's A Morning Cup if Joe Linky Party!!

Thanks again, Andrea!!!

Please stop by and link up to these wonderful parties!!

By now, I usually have the Living Room decorated for the Summer Patriotic Holidays....

I have held off doing so this year because of Joe's passing....

We held his Funeral Service last Monday.....

It was private, attended by immediate family and a few close friends, celebrating Joe's Life which was a Life Well Lived.....

I also brought my Angel home as Joe's ashes are in this beautiful clock....

Some of his ashes was also put in this Keepsake jewelry for my sons and my twin grand daughters...

I wanted to decorate the house for Joe.....

For his Homecoming.....

And to show my family and friends the outpouring of love for Joe that we experienced in the wake of his passing.....

I decided to display the clock containing Joe's ashes in his great grandmother's Hutch which has graced the entrance to our home for many years now...

From the first time I saw this Hutch in "Ba Ba" Barna's home, I loved it.....

It was in bad shape when she passed away and it was going to be thrown out...

Joe and I rescued it and I refinished it and added mirrors to the back of it while it was standing right here to the left of the front door....

It overlooks the Living Room so I thought that it would be the perfect place to display the clock....

I also display some of my Angel Collection in this Hutch which I started when my Dad passed away 37 years ago.....

The top of the Hutch.....

I hung gold butterflies and a dove on the garland above the antique mantel mirror......

I chose Butterflies because of this....

"A dove in the Bible represents new beginnings, new possibilities, new creation, the presence of God"

On each side of the top of the Hutch, I placed a gold cherub, a gold mercury glass candle holder and a picture of Joe, holding one of our twin grand daughters......

In the center is an Angel that was gifted to me by my sister, Barb, several years ago.....

Hanging in the center is an Angel ornament that I made.....

Battery operated candles that are set on a timer were used with the candle holders....

A picture of Joe holding our other Twin grand daughter.....

I kept my collection of white and gold angels that I bought in Sam's Club many years ago inside the Hutch.....

I did add more gold cherubs, keeping a white and gold color theme.....

Along with battery operated timer controlled votive candles....

I chose to display the clock on the top shelf......

I placed 2 battery operated candles inside of the 2 gold mercury glass bottles that were gifted to me by my friend Anne Marie....

The door of the clock opens and the box like urn with Joe's ashes is inside....

I placed this Memorial Card both inside and outside of the clock.....

I was familiar with this saying,always loved it and thought it was the most fitting as Joe wanted to be remembered with a laugh and a smile and not with sorrow and tears....

The middle shelf.....

I placed the gold cherubs on each side of a picture of Joe, who was an avid Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins fan.....

We were Season Ticket Holders to the AHL team's games at the arena right down the road from us for 25 years......

Joe recently bought the frame on his annual trip with our son, Joey, to Pittsburgh to see a Pittsburgh Pens Hockey game.......

The picture inside the frame is of Joe with the team's mascot Tux when we hired him to appear at our church's annual Festival and Flea Market....

The bottom shelf.....

Inside another Penguins frame is a picture of Joe taken recently at one of the games with Tux, who did reach out to me in a FB comment as he always stopped by our seats to visit at every game.....

2 gold mercury glass candle holders.....

I will keep the inside of this Hutch like this until Christmas....

The chair by the stairs that I use for display for the different Holidays and Seasons....

I wanted to display some of the gifts we received......

The hand made cross was gifted to us by a co worker of my son Joey's along with the poem from another co worker.....

Many friends from our Parish honored Joe with Masses to be said in Joe's memory along with Sanctuary candles to be burned in his name.....

Over on this table in the corner of the Living Room, I displayed a few more special items.....

Joey works for the Diocese of Scranton as an IT specialist and we received a hand written note from Bishop Joseph Bambera, who is actually Joey's boss.....

Joey has graciously done some personal work inside the rectory for the Bishop , who is very kind and personable and frequently stops by to speak with the employees at the Chancery....

2 cards from 2 Bishops....

Joe was also remembered in a mass said by Bishop Bambera.....

Joey also provided some assistance to Bishop Emeritus Joseph Martino, who also sent a card...

And also offered a Mass for Joe.....

We laugh that Joe would be as proud as a peacock and he would be showing everyone these cards so I decided to do it for him!!

LOL!!

A Tree was planted in Joe's name by a donor who wishes to remain anonymous but did reach out to us...

They thought it was a fitting tribute in honor of Barna Landscaping!!!

Those of you who have followed my blog for some time know that I landscaped several neighbor's front yards and a flower bed down by our mailboxes with Joe's help and joked that we were in the landscaping business, "Barna Landscaping"!!!

Thank you so very much for this thoughtful donation....

Donations were also made in Joe's name to our church, Saint Maria Goretti, to Saint Patrick's Food Pantry and to The Medical Oncology Associates Prescription Assistance Fund which helped my nephew's family and is now helping my BIL.....

I also decorated the top of the TV Entertainment Center.....

I hung the Angel ornaments that I made and used for Christmas in the upstairs hallway on the garland.....

A branch tree ( which I forgot to light up), an aqua mercury glass candle holder and more Butterflies are displayed on each side.....

A picture of Joe taken in December when he had the honor of "dropping the puck" at a baby Pens hockey game because he was a 25 year Season Ticket holder.....

I placed a tall gold angel, a hurricane candle holder that Joe bought for me, which is flanked by 2 Angels, gifted to me by my friend Anne Marie and a picture of Joe in the center....

This picture was taken 15 years ago for a Parish Family album for our church.....

The other side....

A picture taken in Washington, D.C. of Joe with our sons, Joey and Jimmy and daughter-in-law, Danielle.......

I am not sure how long I will keep this decorated like this.....

In the Dining Room.....

Another Angel on the Home Interiors shelf.....

My Sister Barb gifted me this Angel shortly after Joe passed away.....

It came with this beautiful card.....

This is a solar Angel but I feel it is too pretty to put outside...

And I think it looks perfect in my Dining Room.....

When we came back to our home after Joe's Funeral Service, my family and friends were able to walk around and see how Joe is lovingly being remembered by so many people.....

My niece Renae and great nieces Cortney, Cait and Carly gifted me this beautiful wind chime....

A Limb has fallen from the Family Tree

I keep hearing a voice that says

"Grieve not for me"

Remember the Best times

The Laughter, the song

The Good Life

I lived while

I was strong.......

Which I hung on a shepherd's hook out in the front of our house.....

They also gifted me this garden sign....

For now, I hung it on the faux window under another Angel......

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I decorated the house for Joe's Homecoming.....

As I mentioned in my last post, my family and my good friend Anne Marie came back to our house after Joe's Funeral Mass....

I wanted them to share in the outpouring of love for Joe and for my family in the wake of his passing.....

In my next post, I will be sharing our first Holiday that we celebrated without Joe.....

Mother's Day.....

Mimi and Lily!!

Mimi and Gigi!!

Along with my niece Cortney's graduation from King's College for her BSN...

So I hope you will stop by to visit again on THURSDAY!!!!

Stay safe, healthy and most of all, HAPPY!!

Thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......