My dear friend Tracy is now taking part in a weekly round table radio discussion, with several women called Women of Grace and Freedom. It's located here on Blog Talk Radio.
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Blog: Cachibachis (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Women of Grace and Freedom, Blog Talk Radio, Tracy, Women of Grace and Freedom, Blog Talk Radio, Tracy, Add a tag
Blog: inspiration from vintage kids books and timeless modern graphic design (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: USA, ephemera, 1940s, graphic design, Off our shelves, information design, ladislav sutnar, Add a tag
What? Why? How? Essential Product Information - Sweet’s Catalogue Service
©1942 Design by Ladislav Sutnar
Sweet’s Catalog Service provided catalogs of building and plumbing supplies to architects and contractors. Ladislav along with Knud Lönberg-Holm were responsible for presenting the information within these catalogs in a clear, concise manner.
The promotional, folded sheet above explains the need for easily accessible product information especially during times of war (this was written in the midst of World War 2). As Sweets maintained, providing essential product information in an effecient way could eliminate waste and speed production:
The increasing need for speed in war production is reflected in increasing demand for product information.
In order to be useful such product information should be comprehensive, concise, coordinated
Prefiling of catalogs has been developed as a means for controlling the flow of essential product information
Beautiful layout, far ahead of its time.
For further reading, I suggest Steven Heller’s article Ladislav Sutnar and Knud Lönberg-Holm
Blog: Garden Painter Art (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: WWII, collage, mixed media, gnarly-dolls, Garden Painter Art, Kimberly Wlassak, Kim's Kandid Kamera, california desert, 1940s, aging, Add a tag
Good Morning:
It's May 30th in the Southern California desert and I'm wearing a jacket!! There's a Spring chill in the air that has me wishing I could crawl back in bed. The sun has played peek-a-boo with me for the last 30 minutes but it looks like it's finally here to stay.
I have a busy day ahead. Grocery shopping with my mom is at the top of the list. She'll buy only what she truly needs, but it will take several hours to accomplish. A slow pace and lots of browsing will take place. I must admit, as my mom has aged, I have learned a lesson in patience. These weekly shopping trips are just as difficult or just as enjoyable as I make them. I chose, long ago, to make them as enjoyable as possible.
Ultimately, I try to imagine myself in her place. Will I be slow and a little adled when I'm almost 80? I'd like to think not, but truth is brutal and chances are, I WILL be slow and a bit adled by the time I reach 80, IF I reach 80! Will I have someone to take me shopping and lavish me with patience and understanding and share my slow pace? I hope so... but honestly, I can't bear to think about my senior years. I am fearful and almost sickened by it. Isn't that terrible? I remember a time when I thought that those days would be calm and almost sweet. Then, I witnessed my dad die in my home on hospice. I participated in his care and comfort, and now, I have a dis-gruntled fear and loathing of age that is probably out of proportion.
I enjoy talking to my mom on the phone. She still sounds the same as when I was a little girl. I can't see her through the phone. It's the visual that hurts. And, to be honest, I'm selfish too. I don't want to go through hospice with her and I don't want to take her to the Dr. appointments or tests. I just want to talk to her on the phone.
I'm guessing the reason that all of this has come gushing out is the fact that I've been looking through old photos, hoping to find one to use in a new collage. The beautiful photos of mom in the 40's freshly married, wearing her "I Love Lucy" dresses. She was so young and had her dreams in front of her. Now, in what seems like a blink of an eye, she's in the late winter of her life. My dad's gone and my mom lives in a senior apartment. Yet...I have daily access to images on old photo paper that proves otherwise. Youth and hope and life are captured within a rectangular piece of paper. Stored away in a box, only to be brought out on certain occasions.
So, I'll take mom shopping today and, thankfully, she's alive to shop. I'll make sure to get her home in time to go down stairs in her apartment building, and play pokeno. I know that she needs and absolutely deserves every ounce of patience and understanding that I can give her. And...I have every intention of giving her all that I can. I'll do my best to leave my fear and loathing of age at home. This journey should be joyful...and I will try my best to make it that way.
**************************************************
I listed a set of 3 ACEO prints in My Etsy Shop
today. The first 2 collage ACEO prints are my mom and dad:
"Happy Desert Couple #1" My mom and dad
"Happy Desert Couple #2" My mom and dad
"Happy Desert Neighbors" A vintage photo image of some strangers that I thought would make handsome and attractive neighbors in this collage series
Until Tomorrow:
Kim
Garden Painter Art
gnarly-dolls
Kim's Kandid Kamera
All I could think of while reading was how I wish I had my Mom still here to take grocery shopping.
I KNOW you know to cherish every moment.
The collage you made with your parents standing by the car in the desert....WOW...so cool ...and you know, I have a photo of my parents next to their car in the desert too! It seems that generation always liked a car in their photos..LOL!
We moved my parents to the back of our property a couple years ago and I'm so glad they're here and no longer 4 states away. They're in the their mid 70s andI'm so thankful they're are in good health. But I find it hard at times to watch them age. And it leaves me sometimes with that fear of growing older also Kim.
And of course it doesn't help if I complain about any little ache or pain and my mom responds with "Just wait it gets worse." LOL ;-)
I hate to admit this but about 10 years ago I realized my parents were aging I actually was ANGRY with them! How dare they get old and possibly die!!! I was GRIEVING for their younger selves and for the fact that I, too, was aging.
Mother died in 2002 and now I watch Dad and can't believe my eys at his physical decline. At "85" je loves life but his body just can't keep up. I'm not angry at him or ANYONE now; I guess I grew up a bit. But it does make me SAD and I am afraid, too.
Great blog...I came in for the cookies but missed it.
BIG MAINE HUGS.
You are an amazing daughter *hugs*
My mom recently went through this same thing with my grandfather last year. He passed away in December and it was so painful to watch him struggle with cancer for those last few months. My mom told me that she hopes she never becomes so dependent on me to care for her, and I told her that no matter what I would be here for her. After all she's gone through to raise me, it's the least I can do for her.
I understand your fear and apprehension about your mother and your own aging. It is so hard to see someone you know so well slowly become a shadow of themselves. It also makes me more aware of my own mortality. You are being such a good daughter and even when frustration sets in the love is there.
Beautiful collages Kim and what a wonderful tender testimoney to the love you have for your mom. You are so lucky to be close enough to be able to spend the time with her that you do. I can identify with listening to your mother's voice on the telephone and how it sounds so young. It is the same with me and mine...I call my mom every two weeks and we talk for several hours. I wish it could be daily. She sounds so young on the telephone but I know that when I see her in just a few weeks time she will have aged eons since I saw her last. I cherish every moment with her I do...
Kim, your post was so honest and poignant...thanks so much for that. I'm going through the very same things with my mom right now so it really hit home. Aging is beautiful and ridiculously hard and brutal at times. I guess pretty much like the rest of life. You're doing just the right thing though...understanding your own frustrations and fears...but being there for your mom and loving her.
xoxo
Wonderfully written and completely understandable as I am going through this very emotional change in my life right now.
For the first time ever I was called an 'older' person and it really hit home. I'm fifty five, I was quite taken aback! That comment made me feel as if I was deficient in some way!
I am looking for work and realize that it's not the same market for me as it was 10 years ago! (Who wants to hire an old woman?)
I know, I shouldn't even go there...but when I hear dad say he can't play his guitar anymore or mom just can't walk that much anymore, (which doesn't seem possible) I began to think about my own abilities, my aches and pains, my attitude, my choices in life and what is important and what I truly value nowadays.
Where have the years gone? My parents were never going to grow old! Me neither!
So, I am just hoping, with all of my heart, that I can take care of my mom and dad's needs and give them the love and the quality of life they so well deserve, that they gave to me!
Yes, cherish every moment, of their lives and your own. Smile as we watch them age, as they are watching us age as well, and enjoy! Make each moment a treasured moment!
Blessings to you all, with love and prayers.
Cherie
KiM - your fresh and raw honesty is beautiful.
He cares for you and he cares for your Mom - you are blessed.
"Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all you who remain of the house of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
and have carried since your birth.
Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
"To whom will you compare me or count me equal?
To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
~Isaiah 46: 3-5
What a crown you are to your mother:
Proverbs 17:6 ~ Children's children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.
Your servant heart for your Mom is a blessing!
" 'Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD. ~ Leviticus 19:32
Thank-you KiM!
Joyfully,
Katey-D
Youngest of six kids - Mom and Dad are 81 & 84