Sherri Woodard Coffey

Chad

Chad and Tina..I don’t know why Tina is sticking out her tongue, but this picture makes me smile.

Playing around in London

So much, then sadness

• In March, my family and I took a trip to Rome. We spent a week seeing the sights and much art in Rome, then traveling on the very fast train to Pompeii for a day trip. I could have spent much more time there.
• After returning from spring break in Rome, I started tackling the defunct flowerbeds, planting them with native plants.
• In the meantime, the Fort Worth Weavers Guild is hosting the biennial conference of Contemporary Handweavers of Texas here in Fort Worth in 2019. I have been working on the vendor portion of that conference. https://www.weavetexas.org/
• Then there was the “From the Lands of Asia: The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection,” which I visited several times. Frankly, my reason for visiting was the textiles. They are simply amazing! The last time, our guild had a special tour by a docent who is also a weaver. It was so interesting to be able to learn more about the whole process and techniques used. https://landsofasia.kimbellart.org/
• Not to be outdone by the Kimbell, the Modern also has an Asian connection. The Murakami exhibition is fantastic. To be honest, Asian art is not my favorite, but both of these exhibitions are exciting in completely different ways. https://www.themodern.org/exhibit/tm
• The Fort Worth Collective has an exhibition of work in the Keller Town Hall, so art was delivered there. Artwork to Keller https://www.cityofkeller.com/services/administration/city-manager/public-arts/current-exhibit

Now for the really hard part of what’s been going on: My son passed away in Flagstaff on June 29, 2018. It is so unbelievable that I will never see, talk to him, or touch him again. He was a good and kind person. He was quirky and unique (and ahem, perhaps bit sarcastic and cynical like his mother), with a dry sense of humor and a love of words and books. He could always throw out a word that you probably have never heard spoken out loud or maybe never seen in print. His brain held obscure knowledge about things you may never have ever thought much about before. This happened recently in a discussion about the Murakami exhibition mentioned above during out group family texts with the word hental. (If you’ve seen the exhibition, you’ll understand.)

In the social media world that we live in, I learned good things about my son that I never knew. It was so comforting to read what friends and acquaintances said about Chad, to “see” another side of him. I am so thankful that we were able to take the trip to Rome this year and to London last year on spring break. I am grateful for the new closeness that we developed over the last few years with that group text thing we started which included his wife Tina and his sister. I will be forever grateful for the funny, quirky discussions we held there.

Hug your kids! Your family! Anyone you love!

Friends and family have posted comments and pictures on my page and others.
https://www.facebook.com/sherri.woodard.coffey
http://bit.ly/2JfGlGZ

I’ve written about Chad and Tina before here and here. They are both creative folks.