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My Beautiful Mom, November 1947 - July 2014 |
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My Mom, 18 months old. |
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One of my favorite photos of my mom, she was so happy. She was 17 in this photo. |
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Working with her friend Joyce in the late 70s. |
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My Beautiful Mom ... she always wanted to be a mom.
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My Beautiful Mommy + Me
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In 1983, my mom and dad purchased and became owners of the original Fair Oaks Boulevard Nursery, which they owned until 1989. My mom ran the gift store and picked out the most beautiful things to sell. One of my favorite things that she found to sell were these beautiful hand painted eggs made by a local artist. My mom kept a bunch of her favorites that she displayed in her home. I loved our nursery! I had so much fun getting to grow up playing there. We had acreage and a pasture in the back of the property with goats and sheep ... Molly was our lop-eared goat, she was really sick though and died shortly after we got her. We also had Oliver, he was saved from a meat farm, he was mean and the oldest. Then there was Boo, the sweetest, kindest goat ... he would let me ride on him like a horse. The littlest goat was Sammie, my baby ... I got to pick him out. We also had two sheep, Pepsi and Lampchop {we didn't name them, the previous owners did}, they were very shy and basically just kept the pasture low.
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Me + my Mommy ... adventures at the beach. |
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My Mom + her favorite little person, Little Love, at Ocean Beach in San Francisco. |
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Little Love's first trip to the snow. My mom helped her make her first snowlady. |
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My mom all dressed up for Halloween. She was a pretty glamorous witch. |
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Little Love wearing her first Halloween costume, a Raccoon, designed and made by my mom. |
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Little Love + my Mom, our last trip to Apple Hill. |
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Me + My Mom, Japanese Tea Garden, San Francisco |
My mom was so talented in so many ways, but in my eyes, her purpose was being my mom. She was the most loving, dedicated mommy. These are some of my favorite memories of my mom ...
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My Mom w/ long, beautiful hair in the '90s. |
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Tide Pooling on the Mendocino Coast. |
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My first Christmas, my mom looks so happy + beautiful here. |
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Purple Lupine ... like Miss Rumphius had scattered. |

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My Mom holding Tiny Love on the day I got married in Bodega Bay. |
Chiska
What a difficult thing to go through, but what a beautiful tribute to your mom! Hugs.
Emily Sunwell
Thank you so much.
Anonymous
What a beautiful tribute to your Mom! So sorry for your loss...but you know you were well loved by her from the moment she knew you were on your way, and you have an abundance of beautiful memories to carry you through any difficult days. God bless...
Emily Sunwell
Thank you so much for your kind words.
Keisha
Thank you so much for introducing us to your mother. What an amazing woman. She lived a beautiful life and what a blessing she must have been to all who knew her.
I unfortunately don't have that kind of connection with my mom, although we are working on it. I hope that one day my children will remember me with the fondness, love and adoration that you have remembered your mother.
Emily Sunwell
I hope that things will get better for the both of you. I am sure that your children adore you. Thank you so much for sharing your sweet words with me.
agosto
hey... i'm sorry to hear this.
i'm one of your anonymous and loyal readers. just want to express my sympathy. I'd love this beautiful homage
Emily Sunwell
Thank you.
Kalinda
I'm so sorry for your loss. It sounds like your mom was a wonderful lady.
Emily Sunwell
Thank you so much.
Anonymous
I feel your loss my dad died suddenly the end of June and was probably the best dad and grandpa that u could ever imagine its hard to realize that he is gone,
Emily Sunwell
So sorry for you loss. My heart goes out to you.
cindy
Going through some of my older emails I came across this beautiful tribute to your mom. What a wonderful, dedicated and loving mother she was! My heart goes out to you as I know the lack of her presence will continue to be felt. Wishing you and your sweet family the best.
Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri
Thank you so much. I really appreciate your sweet words.
Phyllis Bowens
I am a new subscriber to your blog. I want to thank you so very much for sharing such beautiful and love inspired words about you mom. I am so very sorry for your loss. I am a mother of 6 beautiful blessings (4 sons and 2 daughters) no grand babies yet, lol. It was so touching to hear how special your mom was. Thanks again for sharing. Blessings to you and your beautiful family.
Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri
Thank you so much for your kind words! That made me teary reading this {joyful teary}, it was lovely to read something so thoughtful. Welcome and thanks again. Blessings to you and your family too.
S.
What a beautiful tribute to a wonderful and woman.
Thank you for sharing your mom with us.
Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri
Thank you xo
Anya
What a beautiful tribute to your mom, Emily. Sounds like she was a woman of many talents, one of which was to be your mother.
I currently live in the Sacramento Valley and we frequent Apple Hill this time of year. And we love going to Bodega Bay too for some fresh, crisp, salty air. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your heart. I'm sure the holidays will be tough since it's only the second year without your mama. Blessings!
Emily Sunwell-Vidaurri
Thank you for your kind heartfelt words Anya! Yes, she is very much on my mind. We live super close to each other 🙂 Such a small world.