Monthly Archives: December 2023

…………………It seems like yesterday that Jac passed away and left me……and yes, after six years, the feelings aren’t constantly as raw, and with time the pain that I had every moment of the day has faded………but scratch me just below the surface, and it all comes back….as real and painful as ever. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t speak to Jac, but there are never any answers…..I’m always looking for her signs……I remember when her dear mother died she would say to me…”Lou, I don’t hear her…I know she would do anything in her power to reach me!! I don’t even see her in my dreams!”….I knew she was loosing faith….Every day from the day her mom passed away until nine years later when Jac could no longer hold a pencil, she would sit in her moms room, looking out the window at the water, and wrote to her on her legal pads….I would try to reassure her and sooth her by telling her “she’s always here with you hon in everything you do….she’s inside of you, she’s in your heart”….so now I’m always looking for Jac’s signs to me…I too, for the first year, sat in that same chair and every day I wrote to Jac…..but I felt in my heart that she knew what I wanted to say to her before I could put pencil to paper so I stopped…..Talking to her helped me more than the writing….I have read many books about grief, and the words did give momentary solace, but they too fade with time, and the pain comes back…..I have been collecting these quotes for a long time, and have been saving them for today…Each one speaks so true to me…….I miss my Jac terribly, but I know she wanted me to go on and be HAPPY…I have no choice…….Go on I will until we are together again……but it’s the happy part that is difficult.

……………….I miss my Jac more and more with each day that passes…..Every morning I say to her, “Good morning hon”, and every night before my head touches the pillow I say, “Good night my sweetheart”………….”Good morning my baby”

……………….I recently posted the picture, at the upper left. of my house when it was first completed in 1906, and then sold by William Randolph Hearst…..He built it for his mistress, Marion Davies when she was making silent films here in CT….However, they moved to the west coast, and she never lived in the house which was named “Ivyhurst”…This was the picture at the upper left was in the newspaper when the house, just recently completed, was put up for sale…..It has been requested of me to post a “before and after” photo of the house in 1906 and the present day…..Below the picture of the original house is a photo of how the house looks today. There were three major changes made to the house before I bought it in 1992….The stone porch that went along the “front” of the house facing the Long Island Sound used to extent out passed the footprint of the house where you see the large arch entry way. There were steps that went up onto the porch….This extension of house allowed a balcony on the second floor with a door to the main bedroom to exist…..In later years the entire stone porch was completely taken down and a enclosed sun porch was put in its’ place….adding more living space to the house….The original entry to the house was through the large stone archway onto the slate porch, and the front door was on the inside of the porch that went into the house on the right…….The tree lined road along the water’s edge that led to the house was entirely destroyed by a hurricane. The photo at the bottom left shows a slate path along the water where  the road used to be. A new driveway was added from the new street that had been built, at the top of the property. It came down the property that you can see in the bottom left photo ending in a circle….The room on the second floor to the right , with the chimney was expanded and the chimney was removed. This is now my office where I make my posts….A new “front” entry was made where the three windows are to the right of the chimney. The photo at the top right was considered the “front” of the house since that was where the original tree lined road to the house was located. A slate path led up to the stone archway….I would guess the the first six windows from the right, and the sliding double door is where the stone porch used to be….I added the “family”, or “gathering room” onto the house to the left….It is located  where the five windows are at the left of the sliding doors. I changed all of the windows on the first floor facing the water to give the house a uniformed look. ……The rest looks much as it did in 1906. The “Dutch Clapboard” house kept its’ peeks and eyebrow windows which gives the house it’s character, and unique look…..It was painted all white from the dark brown many years ago before I owned it. As far as I know the house has had two or three owners before I purchased the house…….I’ve had 31 years of pleasure being the custodian of this beautiful home………I can only hope the next owners love it as much as Jac and I have.

……………………..On December 9th, at noon, Cathy and I posted a “FACEBOOK LIVE SHOW” from my home……but…..the day started with me picking Cathy up from the train station. She came from her home in PA. She decided to train it instead of driving, because of the impending storm. As I sit here typing the storm is raging outside of my window….so she made a wise decision!!!! We went back to my home where I had all of the trays of jewelry lined up for us to edit for the show. Once we decided what we would show we made ourselves ready…..We promptly started at noon, and the show was approximately 1 1/2 hours long…….I hope you enjoyed it, and it wasn’t too long. I’d hate to bore anyone. Cathy kept spinning her finger in the air giving me the signal to “MOVE IT ALONG”!…..After the show I made appointments, as per Cathy’s request, to go for manicures and pedicures. The shop is near my home and Aaron owns it…..She’s waving at me! Jac took me there years ago, and it became our ritual….EVER man needs a professional manicure and a PEDICURE!! Kim, photo on the top row, used to always take care of Jac, but now she’s mine!….Cathy and I both fell asleep…it was so relaxing!… Then back home to get ready for our dinner out. I took Cathy to a French restaurant in Old Greenwich, in CT. called………”LE FAT POODLE”……..It’s a beautiful small restaurant, but it was packed, and for good reason…..The food was manifique!….We split a mushroom truffle ravioli dish that was incroiable!!!…..I had a Filet Mignon with pepper corn sauce, and  side dishes of a  roasted potato that reminded me of a potato pancake, and roasted asparagus……superb!…..Cathy had red snapper that looked fabulous, and she said in was scrumptious!…..We washed it down with the French version of Prosecco. We were too full to have desert, so we both had an espresso…..Afterwards, we took a stroll down the main street of Old Greenwich to look in the shop windows. The walk did us good! Then I took Cathy for a short drive around Old Greenwich so we could see the marvelous old houses in the Christmas finery!…..They do it well!……Then home…..We watched a new Agatha Christie movie with Kenneth Branagh called “A Haunting in Venice”. It had a great caste, but the movie was ho hum. Actually, both Cathy and I fell asleep. Cathy did wake up before the end so she filled me in on who did what. I feel no need to watch it again though I love seeing Venice. If I feel the need to see Venice I’ll watch the 1955, David Lean movie “Summertime” with Katherine Hepburn and Rozanno Bracci. Best film ever depicting what Venice looks like……..The we went to bed, and this morning got up early and went for breakfast…..I then took Cathy to the stain station and off she went…..Her and her husband Jim will stop by on the 29th on their way to visit her daughter who lives in New Haven…..A nice visit I’m looking forward to.