That's when I came upon an article about a young family's tragic loss and how the community was coming together to help them. I saw a photograph of a young widow holding her ten-month-old-son. Her husband died unexpectedly at age 30.
I couldn't help but be touched by the story and by the community efforts underway to help raise funds for the little boy's education. And I couldn't help but think of my own son and daughter and their spouses and their children. Losing a loved one at any age is a blow.....but when your husband is only 30 and your son is so very young. Just how do you cope with that? How very sad that your son will grow up and never know his dad.
The story "haunted" me for days.....so I sat at the computer, tracked down her address and wrote the young widow a letter. I offered to make a memory quilt for her, using her husband's t-shirts. I explained that I loved to quilt and enclosed a photograph of another memory quilt I'd made. I also said that it was completely up to her.....and if she did not want one she could just toss my letter.
Three weeks later I got an email accepting my offer and a few days later she stopped by to drop off two bags full of shirts. And so I began the process and put the quilt together. It's always interesting to begin to get a sense of a person just by looking at t-shirts. Anyone who enjoyed a Miller after eating a bowl of Lucky Charms must have been a lot of fun. I hope the final result will provide some comfort in the months and years to come.
I quilt. It's what I do. I don't need any more quilts.....but I don't intend to stop. And sometimes, creating one for someone else to maybe help heal a hole in a heart makes me feel very good.
The newspaper article gave me an excuse to quilt.....it's what I do.
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