Anyone who knows me will realise that this is the most special and unique pebbleart piece that I will ever make.
My parents met in New York when my mom was only 17 years old and dad was 22. Both hailing from Ireland, my mom, a native of Listowel in Kerry and my dad, Longford born and bred. They had both emigrated to America to try and make a life for themselves. Luckily for me they found each other (at an Irish dancehall where my dad was able to show off his dancing skills) and fell in love and as my dad always says his life began the day he met my mother.
They dated, they married and they had 2 baby girls in New York before they had saved up enough money to come home to Ireland where they wanted to live and raise their children. They went on to have a little boy and our family was complete.
They ran their own business together and it always surprised me how they could still have things to chat about after spending all day together but they always did!!
2 peas in a pod. You saw one, you saw the other. They did everything together except golf - that was my dads thing :) and they called each other Bubby.....
They built the most beautiful house together with ideas from houses they had seen in America and features they thought of themselves - beautiful red brick with stone accents, a turret at the front and what appeared to most to look like a church. At the time it was very different and unique and still is today. The garden was my mom's pride and joy - she could spend hours upon hours weeding and planting and weeding again.
At the bottom of the garden we had a wildlife area with a pond with a small island in the middle. There was a seat on the island and I can truly say I think that this was their favourite spot in the whole wide world. Any time I would come home from college or work or whatever, if they weren't in the house I knew to look down at the bottom of the garden where they would be sitting, chatting and holding hands.
So when my mom passed away 5 years ago, at the age of 62, life came to a standstill for my dad. 5 years on and it still seems impossible that she is gone but we are all still muddling along and with each new grandchild my dad enjoys life a little more. When I decided to create a pebbleart piece for my dad I knew exactly the design I wanted to do - my parents sitting on that bench with the best view of the house, chatting about everything and anything....
Bubby and me.....
