Treehugger's Roots

After waiting more than 3 months, the memorial service for my sister, Jan (Treehugger) was held in her hometown in Australia, today.  We were able to watch it via live-streaming which was almost like being there.  The sound was excellent and the person working the camera was very skilled. 

During this pandemic, we have sadly had to attend several “zoom” memorial or funeral services.  They have left us struggling to hear and feeling very removed.  Perhaps, as this pandemic has raged on, funeral homes have become more adept at this, but one thing is for sure, this funeral home gets very high marks from all of us in the U.S.

Each of Jan’s children spoke eloquently and with humor about their wonderful mother and the life that she gave them, filled with love, fun, and family traditions; as well as her contributions to the community ranging from being very active in U3A, working with indigenous youth in her younger years to provide jobs and education opportunities, writing for her community newsletter (and providing the photographs), right up until the very end when she volunteered at the local hospital oncology unit talking to other patients who were going through cancer treatments.  She was remarkable, although she never seemed to know it.  

They spoke of the bond that she and I had in spite of the distance and our mutual love of nature and photography.  One of her grandsons had done a video interview with both of his grandparents a few years ago and a short clip was shown of Jan talking about her early married life.  One of her Blipfoto journal entries was read by her eldest son and this picture was shown on a big screen.  It was her journal entry of October 3, 2016, about their family “roots” which was a Mono-Monday theme.  

I had recently reminded my niece and nephews of her Blipfoto journal and they began reading it.  One of her sons discovered this entry and said he became quite undone. They asked me if I could download the image and send it to them.  Of course, I could not download someone else’s photo, but I was able to do a screenshot and bring it into Lightroom to make a few adjustments.  I have decided to make this my blip for today.  Her blipfoto journal of 531 days is just another of the many gifts she has left us with. 

In our pursuit to preserve this journal for all of us, I have been in touch with LooseCanon and he has graciously provided me with the app that will allow me to download her journal and preserve it. I plan to make it into a book for us all.