Some of these blossoms are full and vibrant, splashed with color and soggy with sweet perfume.  Others-- hopefully less-- are wilted, dried up by one too many tears shed.
  It's crazy to think how short life is.  It feels so long... but really, it's not.
  Just this Saturday, beloved Great Grandpa Archie passed away.  We cried, although we smiled at the fact at the fact that he gets to reunite with his lovely daughter, my Grandma Diana {bottom left}, who died exactly nine years ago of ovarian cancer.  It's still hard also to believe that Great Grandma Barbara died a year ago as well.  What happened?
  But there are still the memories, the legacy, the bloodline.  I remember going to Colorado to that squat little brick house in Fort Morgan where the picture of Archie hunting in Africa hung over the couch, where the little automated bird flew in a perfect circle from its spot where it hung on the ceiling, where Barabara kept a grand collection of vintage teddy bears.  I remember sorting through years' worth of spare change and gathering together with the other grandchildren to get the $10 each we could spend as we pleased at Walmart.  I remember going to Sonic and the big park with the Spiderman net and the geese to keep away from.  I remember every time going out for breakfast at the old restaurant for the giant pancakes and hot chocolate with the yummy whipped cream.  Archie always showed us off to the other old timers.  Even if he sometimes called Livie Hot Lips, me Cheri, and Mom Diana, it was clear that he loved us all in the way that he gave us hugs and made us beautiful metal works in his shop.  And even though I was a tiny thing when she died, I still totally remember Grandma Diana.  She took us kids to As You Wish, which was pretty much one of the top things on our bucket lists, so we could paint.  She gave us play horses and porcelein dolls and lovely books about fairies.  I remember when I tripped on the stairs and bonked my nose and cried, she cuddled me and read me a story from that book.  She also took us to Six Flags and this restaurant with fried ice cream and a waterfall with performers who jumped from it {I was six, I'll have to ask an adult for more details on this strange place I can still totally picture}.
  We don't live forever.  But I know that these people made an influence in my life in a way that I hope I can in other people's lives.  I love them.