....Still Thinking About It

Last week I met a friend and we went to an exhibit at The Jewish Museum in Milwaukee. The Museum's Curator visited my quilt guild a few months back to let us know about the works that would be featured and I finally found a day when the two of us both had time to go. My friend is a photographer, artist and quilter......I am a quilter......so I thought this would be a nice thing to do together.

It was more than nice.....it was an exhibit that took my breath away and made an impact that will stay with me forever.  "Fabric of Survival - The Art of Esther Nisenthal Krinitz". To quote the information printed on the back of the Museum's brochure, "Esther Nisenthal Krinitz was 15 when she defied Nazi orders, separating from her family as they and the other Jews of their Polish village reported to a nearby train station. Making their way to a village where they were unknown, Esther and her younger sister survived the war by posing as Polish farm girls. They never saw their family again.

Fifty years later, determined to show her daughters the family she had lost, Esther turned to needle and thread to create a series of 36 hauntingly beautiful, exquisitely detailed works of fabric collage and embroidery - a legacy born of love, loss and the sheer force of memory."

There are so many parts of this story that are remarkable.....that she and her sister would survive on their own, that she would fall in love, marry and move to Brooklyn. That she would be a successful business woman and raise a family and later move to Maryland. That her sister would also find love and live to tell her story.

But to me, as a quilter, I also find it remarkable that at age 50 she began to create panels to show her family her early years on a lovely farm, the community surrounding her, the Jewish traditions they celebrated and cherished.....and then, step by step, how her life changed as the Nazi's took over. Her self-developed artistic ability changed and matured from panel to panel. You could see just how she learned to show perspective, detail, shadowing.....and how the first few panels are so much simpler than the later scenes.

Each panel has comments embroidered along the bottom (and repeated on labels accompanying each piece) that tell what Esther is showing in the scene. Her lovely farm home with her family, the day the Nazi's came and cut off her grandfather's long beard, the day she was working in a field and saw her older cousin behind barbed wire, the day she and her sister fled into the forest, panels showing her working as a field hand in order to hide in plain sight.

Each panel had an impact. Each panel made you stop, look, think, examine, appreciate. Esther created these for her family so that they would know her story, she had no photographs to work with....just her memories. Very clear memories. She never expected that these panels would ever be shown to a larger audience.

There are books about World War Two, there are books and films about that war and the holocaust. There are other museums dedicated to remembrance. But these individual, beautiful, creative, one-of-a-kind fabric panels present the story in a completely unique way.

I've been thinking about it ever since......and wondering why one specific panel hit me the hardest. So many of them were difficult to look at after reading the labels and realizing what the scene portrayed. But when we came to the one large panel showing how the Germans tried to destroy the concentration camps so there would be no proof, burned down the barracks, dismantled the ovens, tore down the barbed wire as best they could there was a section that immediately made me cry. Reading the label I realized that at the top of the panel, at the edge of what had been the camp, was a garden......filled with huge cabbages. Much bigger than a normal garden cabbage......why? Because they were planted on the top of a mass grave. That thought.....that fabric image....that horror.

Cabbages.....

A Small Effort.......

Today is Earth Day.....and what a beautiful day it is here in Wisconsin. I know there are marches, projects and speeches all over the country today reminding everyone to care for this place we all call home. I wasn't able to participate in any of the "big" efforts close to home, but our personal "little" project made me feel so good.

To start the weekend, Dave and I spent Friday night staying with two of our grandsons. Pizza, ice cream and a movie! We spent part of the evening working on a terrific jigsaw puzzle with a lovely earth-oriented theme. The puzzle was titled "Tree of Life" and featured lots of birds and animals designed to showcase the bounty we enjoy on this one small planet. We finished it today.

To start off the day this morning, I was walking Fenway around the block near my daughter's house and found a $20 bill on the pavement. Picking it up I looked up and down the sidewalk to see if I could spot anyone who might have dropped it.....no one in sight so the cash went into my pocket. When I got back to the house I "teased" the boys that sometimes it's good to be up early to walk the dog!


After breakfast we three grabbed grocery bags and walked to a nearby park. We wanted to do something in honor of Earth Day and looking for trash near home seemed like a good idea and one we could do on our own. (Dave was back in Port Washington cleaning up along the bike path with The Lions Club.) The boys and I spent about 30 minutes just wandering the paths through the woods at the park and found some discarded cans and water bottles, some bags from a local fast food restaurant, a fork and some cardboard. And then one of my guys yelled "I think I need some help over here!" Behind a fallen tree was a huge pile of trash.....more than we could even begin to gather in the bags we had. So the boys made the suggestion that we pick up the non-biodegradable stuff and leave the paper behind. Good idea!

I just felt so lucky today, spending time with these special young men and doing something good for the neighborhood and for Mother Earth. It just felt so good!

I stopped at Riveredge Nature Center on the way home and donated the $20......I will remember Earth Day 2017 for a lot of reasons!

Taste of a Memory......

We had a lovely family gathering on Easter Sunday. Eleven of us at our condo in Port Washington.....everyone brought hugs, some delicious food, fun, laughter and conversation. The contributions made it easy to act as hosts and just enjoy the time together.

My sister and family came up from Chicago and brought a special Swedish coffee cake. When she opened the bag so that I could smell it, the memories came flooding back. Uncle Marty, my mom's older brother, used to come by bus from Chicago to visit us in Park Ridge. I have a memory that he came about once a week or so....always dressed in a suit with tie, or nice sweater. He was a gentle, quiet man.....and after dinner he would go sit in the leather chair in the TV room and snooze. I don't remember that he was much for conversation......but he was Uncle Marty, a special part of our small family.

And every time he came he would bring goodies from the Swedish bakery in Andersonville.....the neighborhood in Chicago where Swedish immigrants settled and my mom grew up. I think the bakery was on Clark Street....and frankly, there was nothing as good as their sweet rolls and coffee cakes. Nothing. And I've never found anything equal in any of the places Dave and I called home.

I didn't know it but, after 88 years in business, the bakery closed in February. Before the doors shut for good my sister drove over to purchase a few of the specialties. She froze one of the coffee cakes and brought it up for Easter. That Andersonville coffeecake was made from cardamom dough, with almond and cinamon sugar filling plus chopped almonds and crystal sugar sprinkled on top. Slathered with butter it was heaven.

I had my last piece for breakfast this morning.......

The taste brought back memories and send me searching through an old box of photographs. I wish I could say I'd found dozens of pictures of Uncle Marty......but I only found one. Small, black and white with mom's beautiful cursive on the back...."1 month - Christmas '46". Uncle Marty, white dress shirt and tie holding me on his lap. No coffee cake in sight......that would come later.

Family memories......you never know when one will pop up......but I'm so glad this one did, and I thank my sister for prompting it!

Another Lovely Beginning......

Last weekend we were in Louisville, KY toasting a very special bride and groom. Watching the beginning of another marriage adventure....two young people, very much in love, pledging to love and support one another for all the years of their lives.

Weddings always make me a bit teary-eyed....that's not so unusual I guess.  Dave and I are heading towards our 50th anniversary this year (YIKES!) and so, as I watch two people hold hands, exchange vows and rings, I look backward at our years.....and "imagine" forward for theirs.

Perhaps this wedding was just a little more bittersweet than others......my cousin was not there to share a first dance with her newlywed son at the reception. The father-of-the-bride danced with his daughter.....but my cousin was not there to do the same. She was present in all of our hearts.....but my heart ached just knowing what it would have meant to her to put her arms around her youngest and share that special moment with him.

I wish them nothing but the best.....this handsome young man and this loving young woman. They will have many, many good days ahead and they have already supported each other through some very dark days.

May the good far outweigh the bad, may they turn to each other in 50 years and say "I'm so glad I found you!"

Bring Your Birth Certificate.....

This post has been "floating" around in my brain for weeks. Sometimes that's the way it is....I will hear or read something and it just won't go away.

There have been a lot of stories over the past year or so and laws contemplated. passed and then changed....all having to do with gender identity and bathroom use. Probably because our culture is coming to grips with the fact that sexuality is a lot more complex than giving birth to a baby and dressing your beloved newbie in pink or blue.

I'm no expert and at the age of 70 it can be a challenge to wrap my brain around all of the "classifications" and "terminology" that address our new world....and how people fit into it.

The most recent story that grabbed my attention was the fact that North Carolina had passed a bathroom bill. Apparently it was law in the state that an individual use the bathroom that corresponded with the sex documented on their birth certificate.  But NC started to lose a lot of business and a lot of income from sporting events.....so the law was rescinded and everything went back to normal.

And as I thought about it I thought about normal use of any bathroom. We have gender neutral bathrooms in every house/apartment/condo in America. I think of the small bathrooms on airplanes.....no one checks your birth certificate as you try to cram yourself in one of those while in flight. You, we all, have been in multi-stall bathrooms at theaters, stadiums, museums, airports, department stores.

We have all been in a bathroom at some point where....down the line in another stall....someone who's birth certificate does not match the logo on the bathrooom door is quietly taking care of business. And we didn't know and it didn't hurt us and it didn't matter.

I've heard the worries about women and children no longer being "safe" in a public bathroom if an individual transitioning from one sex to another might be in there and attack them. I don't know the statistics.....but can pretty much guarantee that more men, women and children are battered and sexually abused in their own homes than in any public bathroom. And pedophiles are a different category of predator anyway......not an individual who was born only to find that their concept of "self" did not match their "genitals".

So I guess I think it's a ridiculous non-problem. Laws that say you must use the bathroom that matches the gender on your birth certificate. Who's going to check? Who's going to force you to show the paperwork before entering the stall? The newly formed Rest Room Police?

On the other hand.....job creation......

Pillow Pals......

We took several bags of food to the food pantry in Port Washinton a few weeks ago with another membersof D6-FAWN (Forward Action Wisconsin Network). While there the director took us on a mini-tour to see their storage area, the section where neighbors who need some extra help can come for a bag of groceries or some clothing or some toys for their little ones.

For years Dave and I have celebrated the Christmas holidays with an open house. We "charge" our guests. Instead of bringing us a bottle of wine or something we ask they bring non-perishable food items and then we take everything to a food pantry near our home. It's just a small way of making a very small difference. And for years Dave served on the board of directors for a small food pantry in Milwaukee, so we are familiar and support their efforts.

While visiting the local shelter the director mentioned that they also provided some support for a local woman's shelter. And that got me to thinking about the shelter and the work it does. I don't know where it is located, a privacy/safety situation.....I understand. I checked on line and found some information:

Mission: To support and empower those who have experienced domestice or sexual violence by providing safety, advocacy, eduation and resources......

Purpose: To end domestic and sexual violence through support, empowerment, education and transformation.

I began thinking about the women who must leave their homes and literally run for safety.....bundling up their children and leaving with just about nothing except the clothing on their backs. And I began to think about the children, especially the young ones, and how frightening this must be. And I began to wonder if there was some little thing I could do to provide just a modicum of comfort.

I quilt.....but don't really need any more quilts. (Not that I am going to stop anytime soon!) Then I remembered a stuffed toy I made for my kids when they were each about a year old......I called them "Pillow Pals" and made them because we were on a pretty strict budget. It meant another gift we could wrap for under the Christmas tree or at the birthday celebration. I began to wonder if Pillow Pals would provide any comfort for the children who end up at the shelter.

I contacted the volunteer coordinator via email and she said "yes"......so the first bunch is ready and waiting. A volunteer will come and pick them up to take them to the shelter.

It's a way to use up some of my extra fabric while, hopefully, supplying hugs to children who might need them. They won't know me.....and I won't know them.....

Sometimes it just feels good to try to do something.