thoughts of the creative spirit

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

Last Friday evening, VJ helped me make some hair ties for Cyn Cyn's volleyball team. We cut strips of her team's lovely blue and purple uniform colors, and tied them onto plain black hair elastics.

When the team wore them on Saturday, it certainly added a little extra something to the team spirit, and were also just really pretty. As we worked on the ribbons, both VJ and I reflected on how Cindy would be proud of us for both being crafty and for supporting Cyn Cyn's team.

Last month, VJ and I collaborated on another arts and crafts project; this time it was creating hand made invitations to her birthday party. We used small squares of origami paper, bright, rectangular cards with rounded corners, and stickers to make up the different components of the invitations.

Both projects were a lot of fun. And both times we took a moment to acknowledge that our arts and crafts activities were a small way of remembering Cindy and celebrating her creative spirit.

thoughts of a wink and a smile

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

The other day, Ava asked me, "What does flirting mean?" Her question reminded me of something that Cindy once said (or had reflected in a journal)... "Some people call it flirting... I call it charm."

I think it was an insight into how she was so immediately and effortlessly liked by others, how just being around Cyn made you feel better.

We would often joke about how innocent flirting would occasionally result in random special treatment. Maybe an extra scoop of ice cream, an added discount on a purchase, or a free cookie, was given to one of us in exchange for "a wink and a smile".

Those "wink and a smile" moments are some of my fondest memories of Cindy, and of fun, giggling times that we all shared as sisters.