The Gift of Sight - Donor Quilt Dedication

The Monday after we moved into the new house I went to get my FL drivers license. My sense of urgency fueled by the loss of my GA drivers license & the title company needing a copy ASAP! When I sat down to wait for my license to be printed there was a Florida Eye Bank banner hanging directly in front of me that had information regarding donating corneas.

A few days later at our nieces birthday party my Bonus Mom showed me an invitation she had received for us to attend a quilt dedication in honor of the donors.

My dad had cancer, which returned with a vengence very quickly resulting in his sudden death earlier this year. Because of the cancer his organs could not be donated but his corneas could. There was no doubt in any of our minds that Dad would want to give something, so his corneas it was.

Sunday my Bonus Mom & I attended The Gift of Sight Donor Quilt Dedication. My sister couldn't make it because my nephew was having surgery the next day.

The families of those whose loved ones donated corneas when they died were invited & encouraged to create a square for the quilt. 

The dedication ceremony brought together donor families, recipients & recipient families along with the areas cornea transplant doctors. 

Donor families shared stories about their loved ones. Recipients & recipient families shared about how their lives were transformed. The founder of the Florida Eye Bank shared about how he came to start the business of banking corneas & the doctor shared his love of helping people see, sometimes for the first time in their lives.

It was a special but emotional day. At the end it felt good to know that in our hardest hour, losing my dad, actually helped someone by giving them the gift of sight.

Our piece for the quilt, of course my dad's grandchildren were his pride & joy. My dad also worked for Orange County for 30 years (in addition to the 8 years he worked for Manatee County)

The quilt that was unveiled from last years donor families

All the pieces that were donated by this years donor families

We will be invited again next year to see the result of this years contributed quilt pieces.

46/52; Let's Go For A Milkshake

We asked the boys if they wanted to go for milkshakes? When they answered yes we asked them to go get some clothes,  this is what each of them picked out...

Garren

Caden

Kellan

Crazy t-shirts, wild pajama pants & their monkey backpacks are what they picked out & that is exactly what they wore to go get milkshakes, lol...

A Wonderful Wednesday For Florida Indeed!

A friend posted this info on fb, I've borrowed it this post :)

Here's a list of some of the rights we will now have access to that we did not have before:

Tax Benefits
Filing joint income tax returns with the IRS and state taxing authorities.
Creating a "family partnership" under federal tax laws, which allows you to divide business income among family members.

Estate Planning Benefits
Inheriting a share of your spouse's estate.
Receiving an exemption from both estate taxes and gift taxes for all property you give or leave to your spouse.
Creating life estate trusts that are restricted to married couples, including QTIP trusts, QDOT trusts, and marital deduction trusts.
Obtaining priority if a conservator needs to be appointed for your spouse -- that is, someone to make financial and/or medical decisions on your spouse's behalf.

Government Benefits
Receiving Social Security, Medicare, and disability benefits for spouses.
Receiving veterans' and military benefits for spouses, such as those for education, medical care, or special loans.
Receiving public assistance benefits.

Employment Benefits
Obtaining insurance benefits through a spouse's employer.
Taking family leave to care for your spouse during an illness.
Receiving wages, workers' compensation, and retirement plan benefits for a deceased spouse.
Taking bereavement leave if your spouse or one of your spouse's close relatives dies.

Medical Benefits
Visiting your spouse in a hospital intensive care unit or during restricted visiting hours in other parts of a medical facility.
Making medical decisions for your spouse if he or she becomes incapacitated and unable to express wishes for treatment.

Death Benefits
Consenting to after-death examinations and procedures.
Making burial or other final arrangements.

Family Benefits
Filing for stepparent or joint adoption.
Applying for joint foster care rights.
Receiving equitable division of property if you divorce.
Receiving spousal or child support, child custody, and visitation if you divorce.

Housing Benefits
Living in neighborhoods zoned for "families only."
Automatically renewing leases signed by your spouse.

Consumer Benefits
Receiving family rates for health, homeowners', auto, and other types of insurance.
Receiving tuition discounts and permission to use school facilities.
Other consumer discounts and incentives offered only to married couples or families.

Other Legal Benefits and Protections
Suing a third person for wrongful death of your spouse and loss of consortium (loss of intimacy).
Suing a third person for offenses that interfere with the success of your marriage, such as alienation of affection and criminal conversation (these laws are available in only a few states).
Claiming the marital communications privilege, which means a court can't force you to disclose the contents of confidential communications between you and your spouse during your marriage.
Receiving crime victims' recovery benefits if your spouse is the victim of a crime.
Obtaining immigration and residency benefits for noncitizen spouse.
Visiting rights in jails and other places where visitors are restricted to immediate family.

Marriage is not "just a piece of paper." It is the ultimate commitment to each other and provides you rights some wouldn't even think of.

First Room Complete... Mostly

Once we had all of our essentials unpacked & in place we turned our focus to getting the kitchen, family & living rooms ready for hosting a holiday. We painted the walls, tiled the backsplash, added cabinet handles, replaced light fixtures, hung curtains & got pictures on the walls. We also got a new sectional for the family room & a kitchen table.

I tried to clean up & get pictures of everything all nice & neat but like usual I'd get one area cleaned up & there would be a new mess somewhere else, so here are some real life photos of the space in a bit of a 360 degree view...

Breakfast nook, complete with popcorn spread out on the new kitchen table :)

A little play area for the boys

The kitchen with a few cabinets handles & new backsplash, oh & lots of tangerines, lol...

A very fuzzy picture of the family room & new sectional

TV view & our lop sided Christmas tree, the cats cannot stay out of it

I love how the the room(s) turned out. The teal walls are much darker than Donna & I would have probably chosen originally but the curtains helped us along in color selection & I am a teal junkie!

Here are some of my favorite details...

Love this!

I've already said this is my favorite light!

I had this family photo printed on metal, LOVE it!

These curtains made me change my mind about wallpaper I had my heart set on for months!

A framed collage of each of our beautiful boys <3

More photos are on the way

The backsplash up close :)

We still have more pictures to hang, the rest of the cabinet handles to put on & the backsplash to grout but I think it's a good jump start on the house.