[jdviole2]

Spoiler alert. Todays post covers some sad material about Helena so if you only want to know the sweet side skip right to the pictures. I warned you. Since life mixes good and bad experiences to shape us I need to tell you some of the bad things that happened to Helena during her life. She had many physical ailments in her life. She had severe bleeding into her brain twice once in 1964 (she was 13) and once in 1994. The latter time required neurosurgery to correct the problem. She also had a stroke and broke her hip. With all of those she had to go to rehab to learn to walk again, and in some cases how to speak and read again. Each time she managed to drag herself all the way back up. She never let these things get her down and never let them stop her from living her life the way she wanted to live it. Then in 2016 she fell and broke both arms at the shoulders. Her body had put up with so much for so long that she didn't recover from this. She had to spend 2 years in a nursing home trying to learn to walk again (the long bed rest she needed made her lose all the muscle strength in her legs). When it was apparent that she was not going to regain her walking ability I took her home. For a year she lived a pretty good life considering. I was her full time caregiver. She was wheelchair bound. It bothered her that she couldn't get outside to help with the yard work anymore. By October 2019 she knew that she was fading. It was sad to see her frustration not being able to do or say what she wanted. (She lost the ability to speak). Just before Christmas it was apparent that she was near the end. I know that everything comes with an expiration date but it just seems unfair that after all she went through it came so quickly for her. I was lucky enough to be with her holding her hand when she died. I had promised her mother when we got married that I would take care of her and be with her the rest of her life. I kept my promise. Sorry this post was a downer but if I am going to tell her story then you need to hear it all. The takeaway from this, of course, is that she was a fighter and never gave up. Her body gave out but not her spirit and humour. OK back to happier subjects. Todays pictures. The first shot is another Pompeii shot from 1974. She is in on of the public baths. In the day they were for men only, women had their own bathing areas. The next picture is Helena on a trail somewhere in red rock country. Taken in the early 80's. The next picture is Helena in front of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This was where the Oscar ceremonies were head in the 70's. We were in the crowd watching the stars enter the pavilion for the 50th awards in 1978. This was taken a few days after the ceremony. The next picture is Helena, also in 1978, in the Huntington Hartford museum looking at a painting called Pinkie. (She had painted a ceramic of Pinky and wanted to see the original). Behind her is Blue Boy by Gainsborough. The next picture is from 1975 and is one of a series of close up shots I made of her. The last picture was taken in 1980 and shows Helena ready to take a photo in the Rocky Mountains. She loved being out in the mountain air. That's it for today.