Celebrating G'ma

We were fortunate to have so many wonderful Winston/Whetstone family members fly in soon after Gma's passing. Most special for me, my cousins flew in with their families (Kyra & Alex from DC, Ryan, Mart & Nora from Anchorage), & cousin "Auntie" Bridget from Santa Fe. This provided some very much needed time to reminisce, laugh, & simply be together. It's pretty rare that we're all together & I can't put into words how good & comforting this time was for my soul.

We started the weekend at our house, Blake & Nora getting cousin time & the girls finding silliness and tears while sorting (& modeling) some of Gma's most iconic clothes.

Saturday morning was a lovely breezy walk along Alki with just the cousins (& kiddos), followed by warm drinks, then a trip to sort & choose the last of the household items from Gma & Gpa's estate. There was lots of goofiness to keep our spirits up.

And this, perhaps the most representative piece of art (by our own Steve Winston) that always hung in the G'peoples' home (on a much better backdrop than recycling bins).

Saturday afternoon we drank wine & made toasts, sorted photos & modeled scarves, opened G'ma's jewelry box & chose pieces, all the while remembering & telling stories, laughing & shedding a few tears.

The black & white above is Alan, Blakey's Opa, when he was a little boy.  :)
The photo treasure of the day was when Aunt Kathy came across this photo of G'ma as a baby. And then Nora showed us how much she looked like her.

Four generations.

 
The weekend ended with a life celebration of G'ma (& G'pa) at my aunt & uncle's home.

 The Winston legacy.