Bittersweet happy dance

You may remember a few months back that I mentioned a horrible accident
where three 18 year old boys died in a car accident ten days after they
graduated from hight school. Since one of the boys used to come into
the library regularly with his mom & three brothers, I wanted to stitch
something to as much to honor the family as to memorialize the one who
was gone. I decided upon "MY SON" by Indigo Rose, and added an extra
row with all four boys' names right above the hardanger section at the
bottom. We hadn't seen the family at the library since they moved into
town four years ago but "something" just told me that I should stitch
something special for them.

I delivered the finished piece yesterday afternoon and the mom's
response was all I could have hoped for. She LOVED it! ! ! ! ! She
cried, then I cried, then she cried some more & just kept looking at
it, noticing different details every couple of minutes. If I had had
any doubt about how this piece would be accepted, they were quashed in
the first few seconds after she answered the door. I had called the
day before and left a message that I wasn't sure if they would remember
me but that I had something for the family. She called me back that
afternoon & we set up a time. I told her when I gave it to her that I
had wanted it to be, not so much a memorial for Jonathan, but something
in honor of the entire family that will eventually make her smile when
she looks at it.

It is cases like this that remind me of how special our stitching can
be in the right situation. Not only will this piece remind her of ALL
of her boys when they are grown and married and gone, but it will
remind her NOW that there are people who care - not only in the days
immediately after the accident, but long after the sympathy cards and
flowers stop coming. She will always know that someone cared.

It was worth every stitch. :-) :-( :-)
Liz from Humbug

May blessings rain down on you

Cheryl

"Cheryl Isaak" wrote in message
...
May blessings rain down on you

Cheryl

Thank you for doing this. It restores my faith in the goodness of people.

Lucille

"Liz from Humbug" wrote in message
ups.com...
You may remember a few months back that I mentioned a horrible accident
where three 18 year old boys died in a car accident ten days after they
graduated from hight school. Since one of the boys used to come into
the library regularly with his mom & three brothers, I wanted to stitch
something to as much to honor the family as to memorialize the one who
was gone. I decided upon "MY SON" by Indigo Rose, and added an extra
row with all four boys' names right above the hardanger section at the
bottom. We hadn't seen the family at the library since they moved into
town four years ago but "something" just told me that I should stitch
something special for them.

I delivered the finished piece yesterday afternoon and the mom's
response was all I could have hoped for. She LOVED it! ! ! ! ! She
cried, then I cried, then she cried some more & just kept looking at
it, noticing different details every couple of minutes. If I had had
any doubt about how this piece would be accepted, they were quashed in
the first few seconds after she answered the door. I had called the
day before and left a message that I wasn't sure if they would remember
me but that I had something for the family. She called me back that
afternoon & we set up a time. I told her when I gave it to her that I
had wanted it to be, not so much a memorial for Jonathan, but something
in honor of the entire family that will eventually make her smile when
she looks at it.

It is cases like this that remind me of how special our stitching can
be in the right situation. Not only will this piece remind her of ALL
of her boys when they are grown and married and gone, but it will
remind her NOW that there are people who care - not only in the days
immediately after the accident, but long after the sympathy cards and
flowers stop coming. She will always know that someone cared.

It was worth every stitch. :-) :-( :-)
Liz from Humbug

What a lovely thing to do. So glad it was obviously so much appreciated.

Pat

On 10/5/06 1:25 AM, "Liz from Humbug" wrote:

You may remember a few months back that I mentioned a horrible accident
where three 18 year old boys died in a car accident ten days after they
graduated from hight school. Since one of the boys used to come into
the library regularly with his mom & three brothers, I wanted to stitch
something to as much to honor the family as to memorialize the one who
was gone. I decided upon "MY SON" by Indigo Rose, and added an extra
row with all four boys' names right above the hardanger section at the
bottom. We hadn't seen the family at the library since they moved into
town four years ago but "something" just told me that I should stitch
something special for them.

You couldn't have picked a better piece to express true sentiment for a boy.

I delivered the finished piece yesterday afternoon and the mom's
response was all I could have hoped for. She LOVED it! ! ! ! ! She
cried, then I cried, then she cried some more & just kept looking at
it, noticing different details every couple of minutes. If I had had
any doubt about how this piece would be accepted, they were quashed in
the first few seconds after she answered the door. I had called the
day before and left a message that I wasn't sure if they would remember
me but that I had something for the family. She called me back that
afternoon & we set up a time. I told her when I gave it to her that I
had wanted it to be, not so much a memorial for Jonathan, but something
in honor of the entire family that will eventually make her smile when
she looks at it.

This was such a lovely thing for you to do, and brave. It's always
impossible to know how to help, share in someone's grief, but clearly you
hit the right note.

It is cases like this that remind me of how special our stitching can
be in the right situation. Not only will this piece remind her of ALL
of her boys when they are grown and married and gone, but it will
remind her NOW that there are people who care - not only in the days
immediately after the accident, but long after the sympathy cards and
flowers stop coming. She will always know that someone cared.

It was worth every stitch. :-) :-( :-)

{{Liz}} for doing something so special, and putting your work and thought
into it. I'm sure your bittersweet happy dance will keep you, and them
warm.

Ellice

On 10/5/06 1:25 AM, "Liz from Humbug" wrote:

*snipping details*

It is cases like this that remind me of how special our stitching can
be in the right situation. Not only will this piece remind her of ALL
of her boys when they are grown and married and gone, but it will
remind her NOW that there are people who care - not only in the days
immediately after the accident, but long after the sympathy cards and
flowers stop coming. She will always know that someone cared.

Not to hijack this thread, but I kind of have a query for the group, and a
comment. Directly about this - stitching a memory, memorial thing for
family we've lost.

As some of you know - due to my irregular babbling - DH lost his parents
(dad when he was in college, mom about 13 years ago), and I lost my parents
(more unexpectedly) 12 years ago, and all our grandparents before that. I
never knew his folks (I prefer to believe he's the true apple from the tree,
and that my 2 crazy DSILs are, well, the slight aberration), and of course
he never met mine - though I know that they would adore him (he and my DF
are very similar in the jocks with brains who are really big teddy bears
kind of way). Question - you ask - where's she going with this?

His mom did some XS - and I found a stamped XS of the "now I lay me down to
sleep" prayer, which has to have been done at least 50, 55 years ago. It's
a bit stained (smoke getting in the framing) but I'm going to clean it and
re-stretch, clean the frame and put in one of our guest rooms. DH is happy
about that - I think it rotated from kid to kid and ended with him - thought
it might just have been made for him. And it reminds him of his mom, whom
he took care of after his DF passed (don't get me started on the SILs not
helping out). I have an old XS tablecloth that my DM must have done in 1949
- as a newlywed. I use it (when I find it again) as a topper on a little
decorative table.

Oh, the question. I've been thinking - would it be weird to do some
needlework piece with some sentiment for our parents? I know we think of
them, and this topic has come up recently, as during the Jewish High
Holidays there is a memorial service as part of the Day of Atonement.
(During which I end up sitting weepily by myself, though the grandma in
front of me turned around to pat my hand alot). Recently, I've affiliated
with a different synagogue - and they're so genuinely open and warm - it's
refreshing. So, this whole kind of thought process started going.

Anyone with ideas about wierdness in doing a sentimental thing for people
you've never known? OR what would be a good piece? I'm not really a gushy,
saccharine person - DUH. I did think maybe to do some kind of garden-ish
sampler, or one of the Indigo Rose type ones, and then maybe write in
something about our families. But the engineer brain isn't exceptionally
poetic - even if the art side works.

Okay - sorry for babbling - but Liz's kind effort made me think about this.

ellice

"ellice" wrote in message
...
On 10/5/06 1:25 AM, "Liz from Humbug" wrote:

*snipping details*

It is cases like this that remind me of how special our stitching can
be in the right situation. Not only will this piece remind her of ALL
of her boys when they are grown and married and gone, but it will
remind her NOW that there are people who care - not only in the days
immediately after the accident, but long after the sympathy cards and
flowers stop coming. She will always know that someone cared.

Not to hijack this thread, but I kind of have a query for the group, and a
comment. Directly about this - stitching a memory, memorial thing for
family we've lost.

As some of you know - due to my irregular babbling - DH lost his parents
(dad when he was in college, mom about 13 years ago), and I lost my
parents
(more unexpectedly) 12 years ago, and all our grandparents before that. I
never knew his folks (I prefer to believe he's the true apple from the
tree,
and that my 2 crazy DSILs are, well, the slight aberration), and of course
he never met mine - though I know that they would adore him (he and my DF
are very similar in the jocks with brains who are really big teddy bears
kind of way). Question - you ask - where's she going with this?

His mom did some XS - and I found a stamped XS of the "now I lay me down
to
sleep" prayer, which has to have been done at least 50, 55 years ago.
It's
a bit stained (smoke getting in the framing) but I'm going to clean it and
re-stretch, clean the frame and put in one of our guest rooms. DH is
happy
about that - I think it rotated from kid to kid and ended with him -
thought
it might just have been made for him. And it reminds him of his mom, whom
he took care of after his DF passed (don't get me started on the SILs not
helping out). I have an old XS tablecloth that my DM must have done in
1949
- as a newlywed. I use it (when I find it again) as a topper on a little
decorative table.

Oh, the question. I've been thinking - would it be weird to do some
needlework piece with some sentiment for our parents? I know we think of
them, and this topic has come up recently, as during the Jewish High
Holidays there is a memorial service as part of the Day of Atonement.
(During which I end up sitting weepily by myself, though the grandma in
front of me turned around to pat my hand alot). Recently, I've affiliated
with a different synagogue - and they're so genuinely open and warm - it's
refreshing. So, this whole kind of thought process started going.

Anyone with ideas about wierdness in doing a sentimental thing for people
you've never known? OR what would be a good piece? I'm not really a
gushy,
saccharine person - DUH. I did think maybe to do some kind of garden-ish
sampler, or one of the Indigo Rose type ones, and then maybe write in
something about our families. But the engineer brain isn't exceptionally
poetic - even if the art side works.

Okay - sorry for babbling - but Liz's kind effort made me think about
this.

ellice

Sounds like a lovely idea, Ellice, and certainly no more wierd than
researching the family tree! I`ve been doing mine and managing to obtain
photos of ancestors I`be never met. Wishing I COULD have met some of them,
too, like my maternal grandparents, both of whom had pretty awful lives from
what I`ve discovered, poor things.

My grandfather was a tanner and caught an awful skin disease from the hides.
At the same time, grandmother had been taken to hospital with tuberculosis.
Grandfather cut his own throat at the ripe old age of 31. The details in the
inquest report are pretty horrendous but the saddest thing is that if only
telephones had been available to the ordinary working man in those days, he
might have been able to contact his mother at the other end of the country,
instead of waiting for a letter in reply to his own letter to his mother,
asking for help. It`s so very tragic.

You go ahead with it - it would be a lovely tribute, and will probably be
much valued by your own descendants if they ever want to research their
family tree.

Pat

Liz from Humbug wrote:

I delivered the finished piece yesterday afternoon and the mom's
response was all I could have hoped for. She LOVED it! ! ! ! !

Oh, that's *wonderful*, Liz! Thanks for sharing.

((((((Liz))))))

Joan

ellice wrote:
Anyone with ideas about wierdness in doing a sentimental thing for people
you've never known? OR what would be a good piece?



A couple years back, Herrschners had a kit with a floral heart enclosing
"When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure".

--

Karen C - California
www.CFSfacts.org where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
October is Disability Awareness Month

Finished 10/1/06 - Hats N Kats

WIP: baby and housewarming gifts, July birthstone, Flowers of
Hawaii (Jeanette Crews) for ME!!!
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel
LTR: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn,
Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe

Editor/Proofreader www.KarenMCampbell.com
Design page http://www.KarenMCampbell.com/designs.html

I'm stitching that exact quote right now -- for a woman DH works with whose
husband died recently -- though not Herrschner's version. The one I'm
working from is a chart I bought in Solvang, CA, that was made up by a woman
in memory of her young son, and the proceeds of the sale of the charts was
to go to the Lompoc (a nearby town) library.

I like the quote. It's a lovely sentiment.

--
Jere


"Karen C - California" wrote in message
...
ellice wrote:
Anyone with ideas about wierdness in doing a sentimental thing for people
you've never known? OR what would be a good piece?



A couple years back, Herrschners had a kit with a floral heart enclosing
"When someone you love becomes a memory, that memory becomes a treasure".

--

Karen C - California
www.CFSfacts.org where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
October is Disability Awareness Month

Finished 10/1/06 - Hats N Kats

WIP: baby and housewarming gifts, July birthstone, Flowers of
Hawaii (Jeanette Crews) for ME!!!
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel
LTR: Fireman's Prayer (#2), Amid Amish Life, Angel of Autumn,
Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe

Editor/Proofreader www.KarenMCampbell.com
Design page http://www.KarenMCampbell.com/designs.html