In Memory of Tasha Tudor

I received the following Email this afternoon announcing the death of beloved children's illustrator and corgi enthusiast, Tasha Tudor. I have loved Tasha's artwork and books for many years and several of her prints grace our walls, as well as a photograph of her (taken several years ago) which hangs on the wall of my bedroom. She will be missed.

It is with great sadness that we must tell you Tasha Tudor, 92, passed away in her Vermont home on June 18, 2008 surrounded by family and friends. We have created an online memorial website and invite all who loved Tasha to share their feelings and memories in the Memory Book section. Memorial Website

The office of Tasha Tudor and Family is closed for the time being and will reopen on June 30th.

Due to the extensive travel plans of our national and international guests, the Secret Garden Tours of Tasha Tudor and Family will proceed as scheduled. They will, however, be led by our capable staff, instead of the family.

We thank you for supporting Tasha Tudor's lifestyle and artwork during her long career. We hope that Tasha's message of 'taking joy' in all that one does will be remembered as we pass through this difficult time together.

-The Tudor Family

The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy. Take Joy.

Fra Giovanni

A Stormy Night in June

The weather this spring has been memorable nationwide. A couple of months ago it was the Southcentral part of the US that was being battered, and now it is the Midwest. My thoughts and prayers are with my many friends in Iowa as they face these historic floods. Seeing the pictures reminds me of the 1997 Red River flood here in my corner of the world. This evening the girls and I are in the basement since there are wall clouds and funnels in the area. I needed to do my ironing anyway! We met my brother Dan at our church camp near Brainerd over Memorial Day and dodged storms all weekend. Dee Dee hates thunder and that weekend hail was added to her long list of scarey things in life. We did have fun though. The girls (Dee Dee especially) loved climbing on the tires looking for squirrels.

One night Dee Dee asked to 'go outside' and I assumed she needed to go potty.  Wrong. She just wanted to go play in the tires some more. Never mind that it was 11 p.m. and pitch black. We don't get to see Dan very often since he works in East Asia and we had a wonderful time just hanging out with him.

A Divine Appointment?

Call it providence ... call it a divine appointment ... call it what you will. Something very neat happened this evening.

I had to go to WalMart to pick up a prescription, and since the parks are flooded, I decided we would go for a walk in one of the newer housing developments on the way. I had never walked over there, and the yards are big and lush and really nice. So I found a nice open area where I could park, and I let the girls out. As soon as I got them on their leash, I noticed a woman come around the side of the house and she was looking at me very intently. I wasn't sure if she didn't want me parking there, was afraid the dogs would go potty on her lovely lawn or what. I thought maybe she knew me from somwhere, so I said "Hi". She said, "What are the names of your dogs?" and I noticed her lip was quivering. I said "Princess and Dee Dee." And then, with her eyes full of tears, she replied, "I'm Tammy. I'm Bruno's mom."

Bruno was Princess' brother. He was diagnosed with cancer in March and they put him down a week ago. She went on to tell me that her family was gone and she was all alone in the house and was missing Bruno terribly. So she decided to work in the yard and we happened to park right in front! I was able to introduce her to the girls and we sat on her driveway for a while so she could pet them. Princess (who can be a real snob) wasn't all that interested, but Dee Dee snuggled up next to her. Bruno looked so much like Princess (except a LOT bigger, she said). We had never met before and chatted for a while. Eventually we parted, and I took my girls on their walk but I couldn't help but think how cool it is that God cares about us so much that He would orchestrate such a meeting.