Gems from Ohio Caverns

 Today marks 11 years since Joe lost his mother and I lost my mother-in-law.  We've both experienced so much loss of loved ones, but her loss has been the hardest.  I don't expect the grief to ever go away.  She left a void, a crack in my heart that will never be the same.  Over the years since, rather unconsciously, I've surrounded myself with many wonderful older ladies who's friendships have begun to seep into that crack, slowly filling it.  But not of the same substance for the evidence of such deep loss will always be there under the surface.  Though different now, the mark remains, like kintsugi.  While I still wish I had more time with my mother-in-law, I'm so grateful for the time we did have and for how quickly she welcomed my into her family, years before Joe and I were even engaged or married.  ❤

Over the summer, Joe planned a trip for us and didn't tell me where we were going.  He kept the secret until we arrived at our destination.  We had a wonderful stay in an romantic escape room, explored a beautiful local park, and on a whim, went to the Ohio Caverns on our way home.  We had time before the next available tour so of course we went shopping in their gift shop.  I really loved seeing all the cool stuff they had, and I brought home these stunning gems.

I was admittedly a bit nervous that Míriel would try to pouch a stone, but thankfully she just gave them each a sniff.  I think she just wanted to be sure that there were no other pecans hiding among the gems.  Haha!

Elendil is a bit hard to photograph as he isn't too interested in food so there isn't much I can offer him to convince him to stay put.  I thought if I arranged the rocks in a circle, maybe he'd feel trapped, but he in fact was more than willing to wander out of circle, so the picture taking didn't last very long.  But that's okay.  He's still the best little boy.  😊