Tribute to a Friend – Ruth E. Hendricks Photography

A Tribute to Jimmy Cvetic

Remembering Jimmy Cvetic (click for article by Rich Lord)

Vietnam Vet, Police Detective, Boxing Coach and Poet. Poet is how I came to know him over the years, hearing him read at Hemingway’s Café in Oakland where he organized the Summer Poetry Reading Series for decades. He had an incredibly generous spirit. No one will be able to fill his shoes. He wrote the following poetry books:The Secret Society of Dog, Dog Unleashed, Dog is a Love from Hell, Dog Days published by Lascaux Editions.

Jimmy Cvetic

September 8, 1949- February 15, 2019

Jimmy with Franco Harris on August 17, 2017 Little Italy Days in Bloomfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh PA. I photographed them after Franco played in a Bocce game on Cedarville Street.

Click here to read Jimmy Cvetic in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette Saturday Poem : Another God Poem

February 16, 2019 by Ruth Categories: poetry, Tribute to a FriendTags: boxing coach, Franco Harris, Jimmy Cvetic, memorial, Pittsburgh icon, Pittsburgh PA, poet, poetry, police detective, postaday, tribute, Vietnam Vet 4 Comments

You always ask if there is anything you can do…….

A good friend passed early Wednesday morning. You always ask if there is anything you can do…..

E64A6081-9C28-4E2F-ADC3-AE72009D3B33 Cj and her daughter at Thanksgiving a few years ago.

She was a loving mother, a devoted sister, an excellent teacher, a strong woman, a heartfelt writer and a steadfast partner. An advocate for so many students in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Inspiring thousands. A Madwoman writer at Carlow University.

I can picture her signing Go Tell it on the Mountain at a Christmas Choir Concert

Reading her poetry at Poe*Art, touching us with her words.

Playing music to motivate the scores of teachers who became students every summer in The Western Pennsylvania Writing Project at the University of Pittsburgh.

Another friend who taught with her for a couple of years remembers her playing Rocky’s Theme to get the students geared up for testing. The same friend said Cj always made lemonade when life handed her lemons. So true.

Here is another song she’d play for her students and sign with them.

The plea for help with medical expenses is now compounded by the additional need for Funeral/Memorial costs. If you’ve ever received a bill in the mail after someone has passed you’ll understand why I am getting this request out to the world. Cj was always supportive of my blog efforts and an avid follower.

No amount too small to help the family through this difficult time Click to donate

Thank you. E64A6081-9C28-4E2F-ADC3-AE72009D3B33

May 25, 2018 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: Carlow University, friend, friendship, funeral expenses, GoFundMe, interpreter, music, Pittsburgh Public Schools, poet, poetry, sign language, signing, teacher, The World's Greatest, University of Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania Writing Projecct, writer, writing 14 Comments

Remembering Nora

Nora Nucera Bell

A wife, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter.

Well loved.

A teacher, a neighbor, a knitter.

A reader.

A colleague. A friend.

I took this photo of Nora in my living room at the Greenfield Holiday Party years ago.

Her radiant smile spoke of her generous heart, her loving spirit, her sense of humor, her easy laughter. She loved her family with her all.

Nora was a loyal blog follower since the beginning of the blog 7 years ago and wrote emails in response to photos she especially liked.

Alaska. Baked Orechiette. The family.

She always had a positive word and expressed gratitude for so much.

This morning. fellow Greenfielders and all those who loved her, gathered together to celebrate her life at a lovely Mass of Christian Burial.

She will be missed.

We will remember.

March 11, 2017 by Ruth Categories: cars, Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: family, friendship, Greenfield School, knitting, love, memorial, memories, photography, Pittsburgh PA, Pittsburgh Public Schools, postaday, tribute 17 Comments

Guardian Angel

Weekly photo challenge -SHADOW

February 15, 2017February 15, 2017 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a Friend, Weekly Photo ChallengeTags: angel, candle, candlelight, friend, guardian angel, memories, photography, postaday, shadow, weekly photo challenge 14 Comments

Habitat Show in Johnson City, Texas

If you are in the vicinity of the Amanda Smith Gallery in Johnson City Texas be sure to check out the current exhibition, curated by Julie Blackmon.

(Click to see the Habitat exhibition)

My photograph Jane’s House on Atlantic Ave at Friendship was selected to be part of the show.

Jane McKee- a good friend, passed December 22, 2015. I think of her often.

I’m glad this image was chosen as I feel it honors Jane’s memory. We liked to say we taught together in Hell. I remember great parties- the Winter Solstice with the Useless Gift Exchange, Chinese New Year and the 10,000 Year Old Eggs , our Unpretentious Wine Group gathering with a crazy glossary of terms and a kitchen a sink that sucked down plastic garbage bags with unbelievable suction.

(Jane McKee obituary)

August 12, 2016 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: Amanda Smith Gallery, art lgalkery, city scene, friendship, habitat, home, librarian, neighborhood, photography, Pittsburgh, postaday, snow, teacher, travel 12 Comments

Remembering Mary Therese

Tulips for Mary

No matter if decades pass since you’ve seen one another.

You shared something special and exciting a long time ago.

When you remember, they’re younger and laughing and you’re younger and laughing, too. Life was good.

All those years I didn’t mail Christmas cards.

Wish I’d kept in better touch. You hear the sad news.

These tulips are for Mary Therese who passed May 12th.

There’s a celebration of her life at Our Lady of the Pines in Black Forest, Colorado Friday morning, but I’m in Pittsburgh.

I want to tell her beloved husband, Joe, I’m sorry, I remember and I will keep them both in my heart.

Hers is a life to celebrate!

Mary Therese Bonnet

March 10, 1953 – May 12, 2016

May 19, 2016 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: celebration of life, friendship, love, Mary Therese Bonnet, memorial, memories, Our Lady of the Pines, photography, postaday 6 Comments

Remembering Jennifer Sara, Born February 26, 1982- Passed February 28, 1986

We had some fun neighbors on Lowe Street in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

The Army Housing had eight units and they lived on the end and we were in the middle. I can’t remember a single movie we saw together but we sure laughed a lot. Years later when we lived in Germany the whole family came to visit us and we have a video of that occasion.

My friend Sally found out she was expecting her son Jonathan when Mark was just a baby in 1976. Jonathan is headed back from his Army assignment in Korea and I know Sally is glad.

And somewhere in my house, I still have the cute birth announcement for their dear baby girl Jennifer, born February 26,1982.

Thirty three years ago.

This post is to honor and remember little red-haired Jennifer and all those who love her. xxooxx

March 3, 2015March 4, 2015 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: angel, Army, birthday, celebration, Fort Knox KY, friendship, memorial, memories, photography, postaday, tribute 13 Comments

The Importance of Friendship

Long time friends, childhood friends, best friends, far away friends, friends and neighbors of years past and passed- there are many degrees and types of friendship. Friends can see you through all kinds of situations and experiences.

And we have virtual friends -you may not meet in person but with whom you have a connection, a blogging friend, or someone with a shared interest..

I ‘m fortunate to have received real mail in my mailbox- birthday cards and also texts on devices and phone calls from other friends.

This Friday (the fourth) I’m celebrating my birthday so it’s good to feel their friendship in a variety of ways. You can eat together, laugh together, cry together, provide mutual support. Be a friend to have one, it’s true.

One friend sent a tea bag in a fabric envelope with a little verse. (thanks Donna).

Yes, it is good to have friends.

Loss of a Blogging Friend

This morning I read a post by Stuart, a blogging friend’s husband (of 45 years) who told of Christine’s sudden passing. A virtual friend from the blogging community. The first comment Christine wrote on my blog was in 2011- when we “met” so it has been a nice exchange of good words and photographs. She was an excellent photographer and lived near the beach in Australia so her photographs show another part of the world.

One doesn’t really know what to do when someone passes. Takes time to digest the sad news. And then the missing begins……….

Two members of the wordpress community , blogging friends, wrote tributes, beautiful blog posts, to Christine in response to her passing-
click to see Jo’s A Walk for Christine or Madhu’s Farewell Dear Friend blog with photographs and words in memory of Christine.

July 2, 2014 by Ruth Categories: Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: birthday, birthday cards, blogging community, cup of tea, death, friend, friendship, mail, photography, postaday, tea bag 20 Comments

“I Dug Up the Iris” by Guest Poet Liane Ellison Norman- on Dorothy’s Birthday

“I Dug Up the Iris” by Guest Poet Liane Ellison Norman

I Dug Up the Iris

in Dorothy’s garden
to plant in the soaked

soil of mine, memorial
to her each spring

when they’ll open
complicated ruffles

and flourishes, purple
or blue with speckled

throats. They’ll rise
out of rhizomes

sprawling at soil’s
surface like the joints

of my old hands
anchoring the tall

stalks and frilly petals.
This morning

in the brief breath
of cool I dug shallow

trenches for this legacy,
this pantry of pollens

the bees prospect,
insects with lives

beyond what the mere
gardener knows.

Liane Ellison Norman, a Madwoman in the Attic, has published two books of poetry, The Duration of Grief and Keep (www.smokeandmirrorspress.com). She has published poems in 5AM, Kestrel, North American Review, Grasslimb, Rune, Voices from the Attic anthologies and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. Her poem “What There’d Been” won the Wisteria Prize in 2006 from Paper Journey Press. reblogged On the occasion of the birthday of poet Dorothy Holley http://rutheh.com/tag/dorothy-holley-poet/

May 15, 2014May 15, 2014 by Ruth Categories: Garden, Photography, Tribute to a Friend 9 Comments

A Friend is Someone Who Likes You. (by Joan Walsh Anglund)

Can’t show you the sweet images inside as they’re copyrighted but it’s all about how lovely it is to have a friend.

I took the book to school in 1961 and the teacher, Miss Grace E. Wagner, inscribed it after I shared it.

A good friend is to be cherished.

You may not see your friend all the time, live far away, but when you’re together it is as if all the time between melts and you pick up where you left off.

Your good friend “gets you”, accepts you, and loves you, no matter what. And you love them right back!

Life events, milestones, heartaches, joys, loss and laughter. Sometimes all in the same moment. These are shared, celebrated or in the case of grief you keep one another in your hearts. Carefully. Remembering. With gratitude. And much love.

for my longtime friend – I love you. Happy Birthday!

“And the greatest of these is love………….”

December 8, 2013 by Ruth Categories: Childhood, Photography, Tribute to a FriendTags: A Friend is Someone Who Likes You, birthday, childhood, elementary school, friend, friendship, Grace E. Wagner, Joan Walsh Anglund, memories, photography, postaday, school 10 Comments

Category: Tribute to a Friend

A Tribute to Jimmy Cvetic

Jimmy Cvetic

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You always ask if there is anything you can do…….

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Remembering Nora

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Guardian Angel

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Habitat Show in Johnson City, Texas

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Remembering Mary Therese

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Remembering Jennifer Sara, Born February 26, 1982- Passed February 28, 1986

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The Importance of Friendship

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“I Dug Up the Iris” by Guest Poet Liane Ellison Norman- on Dorothy’s Birthday

“I Dug Up the Iris” by Guest Poet Liane Ellison Norman

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This Book ©1958 Cost $1.75 and Says a Lot About Friendship!

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“I Dug Up the Iris” by Guest Poet Liane Ellison Norman

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