Sending Hugs to Papaw and Great-Grandma

I struggle all the time with the fact  that Curly Girl's elderly family members aren't close by.  Her Papaw and Great-Grandma, both in their 80s, are far away in Tennessee and Missouri.  We can at least call Great-Grandma, who is still sharp as a tack, but I can't talk to my Daddy anymore.  He suffered two major and many minor strokes in the last few years which has rendered him unable to speak.  So phone calls aren't even an option, and he doesn't want to email.

When Curly Girl was born, I was great at sending pictures.  I have since slacked off and feel really guilty about it.  I also feel guilty that while there have been a few trips to Tennessee to see her grandfather, and one trip with Great-Grandma coming from Missouri for her Christening, she has not been able to spend quality time with them, and therefore won't have many memories.  So I'm going to try to step it up a bit and do more about that -- talk about them, tell stories and use their names in songs we sing.

Curly Girl is a GREAT hugger.  Her little hands and arms wrap so tightly around you, and when she hugs you she says "Awwwwww".  It's so cute!  Her Grandfather and Great-Grandmother are totally missing out on this experience!  So we made them  'hugs' to send in their next pack of pictures, which I finally found time to get printed.

We traced Curly Girl's hands on construction paper (that was WAY more time consuming and dramatic than I anticipated) and cut them out.  We then held her against her will with her arms out to measure her arm span with ribbon.  We attached the hands to the ribbon with tape and made the sign.

THESE ARE MY

HANDS

AND

ARMS

WHEN YOU NEED

A HUG

WRAP THIS HUG

AROUND YOU!

These are going out in the mail today and will hopefully give a virtual hug to her Papaw and Great-Grandma, two beautiful people I intend to keep in her memory.