Sunday 7 September 2014

A Sunflower for Tina Downey








http://kmdlifeisgood.blogspot.se/2012/04/alphabetalfabet.html






























A Sunflower for Tina Downey

Tina Downey passed away on Saturday night 23rd August.  Here is an Etsy Treasury full of Sunflowers.








It has taken some time to collect my thoughts about Tina. This was not an easy blog post for me to do.

Tina was a special blogging friend to me. We had our secret language, Swedish, that we had fun with together, in spite of the fact that Tina did not always have Swedish letters on her computer keyboard. It made spelling a challenge.

I can speak and write Swedish every day here in Sweden. No big deal. But to do it with someone like Tina Downey, who had preserved it like a precious treasure from childhood, while being surrounded by a sea of English, was a humbling experience. She had what I might want to call "linguistic courage".

I'll miss her slant on language, on life and I'll miss her kindness and her unique sense of humour.

I am still looking for a photo that I took a few years ago of a lone sunflower that grew up out of a pile of leaves and dirt behind our garage. I'll post it if I find it, because it would be an appropriate symbol of Tina's tenacity and spirit.


Kind regards,
Anna










P.S.
Tina's commented on my blog post for IWSG om March 5th. I cherish it as her last message to me. And as always so kind and thoughful. She wrote about her asthma. Take a look at the comments here.

First Commenter:

21 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

She wouldn't have known what to do with all of those sunflowers!

Lin said...

Oh, that is so sad! May she find many sunflowers in heaven.

Unknown said...

September 9th, 2014, 2:30 A.M.

Oh Alex,

I am still looking for the right words for this post. It is still Sunday in some parts of the world.
I may find them.

Tina was so special to me because we were mirror images of each other, linguistically. Our lives were very different, but we had Sweden and the two languages, Swedish and English, as a common denominator.

And besides that, Tina was such a likeable, well-balanced, and genuinely good person. I mean, she was a kind person, even when other people were not.

She was good for me.

I love her "From A to Z" from 2012; her postcards from Sweden. In one post she complained about the flats bottom sheets in Sweden that made bed-making so difficult, when she was growing up. I could report that there are now fitted bottom sheets here now. And there is a new Swedish word for them too - "dra-på-lakan", meaning literally "pull-on-sheets".

I wish I could have helped her.

It was a privilege to have "met" her, even if we only got to chat through comments on our blogs. I should have understood what might happen to her when she wrote in response to my stories about the my cat-population explosion, that she could not get anywhere near a cat because of her extremely bad asthma. She warned me to take care of my daughter, Elisabet, so that she does not get asthma.

Sincerely,
Anna

Unknown said...

Dear Lin,
Thanks for stopping by again!

I had so much in my mind that I thought I would write about Tina. But I'm not that good of a writer.

Glad I still have you, Pally!

Anna

Anne said...

I never knew her but having a friend pass away is always sad. But the beauty and brightness of these sunflowers pay her such a wonderful tribute.

Rhonda Albom said...

Oh so many sunflowers. If Tina is watching all of us today, she must be smiling!

Denise Covey said...

Lots of sunflowers for Tina, Anna. A lovely tribute.

S. L. Hennessy said...

I think she would have loved all these sunflowers as tribute to her memory. A sunflower for every person she touched. Life is Good.

Unknown said...

Tina would have loved all those sunflower goodies you've posted for her! She touched so many lives...I can't stop smiling at the joy she brought to all of us.

And then, of course, I tear up.

Sherry Ellis said...

Those are a lot of sunflowers! Tina would love them!

Jeremy [Retro] said...

the hardest thing is to find the right words, there are no good words to share about a person we all cared about. Someway Tina touched our lives and to find time to fight her own demons, to help those in need. THANK YOU!

Michelle Wallace said...

That's a wonderful collection, Anna!
A special tribute.
I'll always remember Tina through the motto - #Life is good!

Heather M. Gardner said...

I think the sunflower dress is my favorite. What a beautiful compilation.
Thank you,
Heather

Tammy Theriault said...

simply sweet :)

J Lenni Dorner said...

Great tribute. The sunflower ring is very pretty and unique.

cleemckenzie said...

so fitting that someone from Sweden would post this for Tina. Wonderful.

cleemckenzie said...

It's so fitting that someone from Sweden should post this about Tina. Wonderful.

Philip Verghese 'Ariel' said...

Hi Anna,
What a Tribute it is!
She was a loving personality to all of us at A to Z as well as at IWSG, Her demise was a great loss. I too posted a tribute in my page. Thanks for sharing this
Have a great and blessed weekend .
~ Philip

Yolanda Renée said...

Such a lovely tribute, and so wonderful that you found such a kindred spirit. The blogosphere is so amazing and truly a blessing!

Arlee Bird said...

Well said. That was very touching. Thank you for adding your tribute for Tina.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Shannon Lawrence said...

How wonderful that she was able to write back and forth with you in Swedish! You're right that the photo you're seeking would perfectly capture her spirit.

Translate a text here: