Fond Memories

[Pat]

I started participating with the Monarch Watch program many years ago while my children were still in school, and my parents became interested in raising their own butterflies and tagging them for the migration after seeing our caterpillars during their many summer visits to their grandchildren. My father, a WW II Navy veteran and electronics engineer, proved to be an especially diligent egg-hunter, and took special delight in rearing and releasing their monarchs. He and my Mom planted all sorts of nectar and host plants all over their small property. Like us, they became a certified Waystation and my Dad was thrilled to report in the fall that the monarchs were descending "like a cloud" on their yard, where he would net and tag some of the wild ones as they passed through. By that time he was well into his 80s and they had several Mexico tag recoveries.

After a long and very difficult struggle against cancer, my father recently passed away. In his memory, my family requested that donations be sent to the Monarch Watch project which gave him so much pleasure in life. We encourage everyone to introduce this program to the retirees in their lives; although I joined as an educational experience to share with my kids, it turned out to be a wonderful and fascinating new activity for older people, too. My folks never tired of it and looked forward to the return of the monarchs every summer.

[texas butterfly]

Pat,

Thank you for sharing your wonderful story about your Dad and butterflies.
I'm glad that you had found something common to share and build many memories.

I am also finding how wonderful butterflies are and what a miracle of life they are.

I think sometimes we forget about the retirees. How many of them have never seen the miracle of the butterfly. I plan on introducing the butterfly to children and adults as well.

[Mona Miller]

I am glad that you dad had something to give him joy in his retirement.

Enjoying Monarch butterflies (all butterflies) does not have an age limit.

[Pixie]

My condolences............and thank you for sharing this beautiful story about your Dad..........

Dottie (Pixie)
WS 252

[peahen]

Hi everyone,

Sadly, I am bumping this old thread to let the forum know that Pat, my mother, passed away a few weeks ago after her own very difficult fight against cancer. Since she started this thread about her fond memories of her father and monarchs, I just wanted to add a few memories of my mother.

I was young at the time, but I think I remember the day my family found our first monarch caterpillar. Mom had an insect reference book that she was carrying around our back yard, and the family was turning over leaves in the garden to see what we could identify from the book. We quickly spotted the caterpillar, identified it, and kept it in hopes of raising it. After that, Mom was hooked! Soon she was collecting eggs, tagging new monarchs, and working on the beautiful gardens of Waystation #12.

We raised hundreds and hundreds of butterflies when I was a kid. I still remember how the caterpillars would bop their heads in unison when confronted with a loud noise. Caring for the monarchs was a great learning experience for me, my brother and my sister. And as you probably know, Mom also shared Monarch Watch with her parents and several of her friends.

After she passed away, we requested again that donations be sent to this organization, just as Mom did when her father passed. Monarch Watch has been a big part of our family for many years now, and it brought us (and especially Mom!) a lot of joy. I just wanted to stop by and thank everyone here for their part in keeping the program going, and for all of the happy memories you helped provide my mother and our family.

[Mona Miller]

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. I am so very sorry that your mom has passed. My hope is that all the things we loved in life will be found in the other life. She would be so proud of you for sharing this with us.