(Day 14) without Cleo: our 7th wedding anniversary with a trip to the Cloisters in NYC

It was a wonderful day!

Our 7th wedding anniversary!

I put away the cleaned dishes and silver-plate silverware,

made tea, we had cheesecake for breakfast and 

St Phanourios bread!

Our favourite dinner for brunch

and then on to the Cloister's Museum for the afternoon!

I had never been there, it was so beautiful.

I already want to go back...

I took SO MANY pictures!

Actually, I am thinking, if I have the time, of showing 

just a few pictures at a time... it's such a beautiful place...

and the sense of quiet, of deep beauty and of reverence was 

very much present and wonderful... 

Then we had a picnic in the nearby park and enjoyed that...

we packed up a little earlier than we may have because rain drops

started falling slowly, sporadically... it did rain for a bit when we were driving 

but the rain was gone by the time we got back home!

(We drove there and back via George Washington Bridge).

My Husband surprised with with the beautiful Byzantine Art book that 

you see pictured above, he found it at the VNA rummage sale!

It's such a lovely gift! 

We finished the last of the St Phanourios bread tonight

and moved his icon back to our chapel wall of icons in our 

chapel/library/guestroom. 

It was such a perfect day.

My Husband described our picnic dinner as 'cozy' and it was. 

Mr Husband and I, we love cozy... 

***

Tomorrow I will be home, DV will clean up the last of the Slava dinner 

things (just a few roasting pans is all), put away the tables,

work on a book review, and other such things...

***

I got a lovely card in the mail today about Cleo. 

I still get excited, thinking I will open a door and see her.

It's 2 weeks today that she is gone. 

My new white fluffy/furry pillow helps to a point

(it's a real comfort but obviously it can't bring Cleo back).

I guess I feel like it was like she was just gone on a short vacation,

the fact that Cleo is really gone, well, even though I held her dear

Cleo Cat body after she died, and shrouded her in my favourite

old towel and buried her with Psalms and a Poem, with sunflower and 

roses, still, it's hard to believe that she is really gone. 

I don't think the expecting to see her is full denial as much as

a huge change in life-patterns of 13 years.

But sometimes, I think I am in a bit of denial; the it's hard to 

really think she is gone and not coming back.

Yes, I am one who believes God can do all things,

and save me is a huge one and bring Cleo back or have her already

in a Garden in Paradise, well, I don't think that is too hard for God to do;

it's something I don't worry about explaining or having a definitive 

theological position on; I just agree with Abbot Tryphon when he said

it would seem that Heaven would be a bit bleak without his 

Hammi cat that he wrote about on FB. 

***

No matter what loss, change or challenge you are facing,

I pray it will be with Christ as your Right-Hand, the One 

who is upholding you through it...