The Empty Chair***Swirlydoos*** Featuring Zva Creative***

Today is a bittersweet day for our family. 1 year ago today, we lost my dear mother in law. My kids lost their Nanny, my husband lost his mom, my father in law lost his wife, and I lost a very dear friend... The Gregory family lost their matriarch. She meant so much to all of us. My own parents adored her so. My mother in law once wrote a letter to my mom, thanking my mom for sharing me with her. I want to think that I was the daughter she never had. She once told me I was. We think about her every day. We still mourn her loss, and as Gabrielle is nearing graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, it gets harder knowing Nanny wont be there to see it happen. (We remind Gabbie that she will be there in her heart). It was my MIL's lifelong dream to be a professional chef with her own restaurant. Instead, she chose to raise a family and put them first. She was one hell of a cook. She was Gabbie's inspiration for all she is doing now. And I believe it was divine intervention on my MIL's part that helped Gabbie get through school, and kept her safe through all of her travels from one side of the United States, to the other.
My MIL was a very religious person, and always prayed. After she passed, I found lots of prayers written by hand, tucked in books here and there all around her house. I feel very fortunate that my mother in law left anything of sentimental value to me. Including the Family Bible. I thought about a beautiful story I read long time ago. It was called the empty chair. And it reminded me of my mother in laws faith, and what got her through the toughest moments in her life. She spoke to God through Jesus on a daily basis. So in her memory, I created this LO. We miss you Nanny...Every day we miss you so much...

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

This layout was created using Swirlydoos March kit French Quarter. I love the Glitz French Kiss papers. I hope you joined the Swirlydoos March Blog Hop!! There are a few fantastic Prizes to be won!! You still have until midnight to night to hop and be entered into the prize vault!!
I was also inspired to scrap this LO for the new Once Upon A Sketch challenge. I started to follow the sketch, then the LO took on a life of it's own..Happens to me all the time. I did follow the journaling criteria. My journaling is on the back.

Instead of butterflies, I chose to place some doves around the LO. They are a Sizzix die. The leaves are also a Sizzix die. I used Zva Creative Sweet Roses [FLBK-03CB-135] and Mini Roses [FLBK-03CB-103] for the centers of my hand made flowers.

The gorgeous crystal Swirls are Zva Double Flourish Crystals [CR-03CA-113] I made some Spiral Roses from scraps of paper instead of coffee filters. I punched some strips of paper using my Martha Stewart Pansy punch and tucked them under the edges of the patterned paper all around.

I used the lovely Zva Creative Pink Rosy Crystal [CR-04CB-116]. I used 1 from each pack on this LO. There are 2 in each pack.

I decided to print up the story and post it to the back of the LO. It really is beautiful. And just how I pictured my MIL in the end. We were there when she passed, and when her head leaned toward the side in her last hour. I know she had her head on HIS shoulder...It made me smile despite the sadness in my heart.


The Empty Chair

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to
come and pray with her father.

When the minister arrived, he found the man lying
in bed with his head propped up on two pillows.

An empty chair sat beside his bed.
The minister assumed that the old fellow had been
informed of his visit.

"I guess you were expecting me, he said.

'No, who are you?" said the father.

The minister told him his name and then remarked,
"I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to show up,"

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man.
"Would you mind closing the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

"I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter,"
said the man.

"But all of my life I have never known how to pray.
At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer,
But it went right over my head."

I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued,
"until one day four years ago, my best friend said to me,
"Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus.
Here is what I suggest."

"Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you,
and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, 'I
will be with you always'.

"Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now."

"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it
a couple of hours every day.

I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd
either have a nervous breakdown
or send me off to the funny farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to
continue on the journey.

Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil,
and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had
died that afternoon.

Did he die in peace?" he asked.

Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to his
bedside, told me how much he loved me
and kissed me on the cheek.

When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead.

But there was something strange about his death.
Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the
chair beside the bed.

What do you make of that?"
The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said,
"I wish we could all go like that."