Mom

Off-topic post.

I am putting this out because I need to do it for me; if you want to read along, I welcome that.

My mother was killed this week.  She was a pedestrian, hit by an automobile.  She did not suffer.  Those of us left behind took up the suffering; but we are also remembering and honoring her, and laughing at some of those memories.

First ever quilt blocks, 2010

My mother taught me to sew.  And to knit.  And to crochet.  (Somewhat tricky for a right-handed parent to teach to a left-handed child.)  These hobbies have become my comfort, my introverted way of recharging my batteries and expressing my creativity.  I am blessed to have a hobby that brings me such joy, but I am doubly blessed that now I can remember Mom whenever I am stitching.

I taught my mother how to quilt.  I dragged her to a quilting retreat a few years ago, just as a way for the two of us to spend time together.  She was tentative, slightly allergic to strangers, and definitely out of her comfort zone, but by the end of the weekend, she was talking about returning the following year.

Chicken pincushion, 2010 retreat

Card trick block, w/quilting buddy Dwynn, 2011

Mom was a brainy woman, a scientist; she had an insatiable curiosity about geology and other workings of the earth, the planets, the weather, local plant life.

Mom was also a free-spirited thinker, which I always marvel at, given the time period (1950's) in which she grew to adulthood.  * I grew up without believing in Santa, the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy--all because my mom didn't believe in lying to children.  (Don't worry, grandma still spoiled us kids.) 

9-patch blocks, 2011

* She taught me to leave out "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance: it had been inserted without her permission during the rabid anti-communism era.  * She gave me a broad religious viewpoint: although we had strong faith in our church, we were not so full of knowledge of the inner workings of the Divine to assume that there were no other passages to Enlightenment.  * She exposed our family to wheat germ and brewer's yeast and eating for health--way back in the early 1970's.


Mom was always my biggest cheerleader.  So proud of me (of all her children, and grandchildren), and not at all bashful about bragging on us.

with Skipper: Columbia Gorge (Oregon side), 2013

So much more I could say... But I close with a phrase that both makes me think of Mom, and makes me smile.

Etsy shop: itswritteninvinyl

What have you learned from your mother?  What gifts did she bestow on your life?

Memorial website: forever missed