A Grandma Who Loves Gardening, Reading, and Games

On Thursday morning, the last day of Passover, after 40 days of war, we woke to a ceasefire. The quiet felt unfamiliar. No planes overhead. No sirens. Not even the usual blaring alerts the moment I stepped into the shower. It was almost unsettling in its stillness.
And yet, I can't help but wonder - is this really what we hope for after everything we've been through? Homes lie shattered. Too many lives have been lost. And despite it all, the Iranian regime remains a global threat, continuing its pursuit of nuclear capability while tightening its grip on one of the world’s most vital waterways, the Strait of Hormuz.
We find ourselves standing in the wreckage, somehow expected to return to normal after more than a month of living on edge, in a reality that feels anything but ordinary.
Soon, Israel will shift from this fragile quiet into remembrance. The country will mark Yom Hazikaron, the day we remember Israel's fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. Since losing Gadi, this day has become deeply personal for me, and I can no longer make the emotional transition to Yom Ha'atzmaut, Independence Day, which begins the following evening, the moment Memorial Day ends.
And still, despite everything, I return to my cards. With paper and glue and careful hands, I keep creating. It is my way of holding on and, in some small way, moving forward.

This card request followed soon after the extra-large 80th birthday card I designed for another special grandma, and the briefs for the two projects were strikingly similar. Both grandmas, it seems, enjoy gardening, so once again I started with a background of a garden and shrubs. This grandma, Vicki, was turning 85. She has 5 grandchildren and, as well as gardening and flowers, she enjoys reading and board games.  

My customer wanted her children's names incorporated into the flowers, which I arranged into girls and boys for visual balance. I also checked which board games grandma enjoys and learned it’s backgammon, cards, and Rummikub.

I chose to depict grandma sitting at a garden table, a Rummikub rack before her and a tile poised in her hand. Next to her sits a small pile of books, waiting to be read. In the background, I added the requested flowers, along with a plant pot and trowel. Finally, a large 85 marks her age.

Her daughter, my customer, was delighted with the card!

* This post has been shared on Happiness Is Homemade, Mosaic Monday