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Thanksgiving

11/21/2018

Before the Wistful Grandma has the last craft show of 2018 we will be gathering for Thanksgiving. With that in mind I would like to share with you the words I found printed on an antique postcard. No author was cited but the short poem caught my eye. And the words, to me, seem timeless.

Give Thanks:

For sweet hopes born
   For sorrows dead,
For true songs sung
   For fond words said,
For the ready cup
   For the daily bread.

And from me a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported me through another year of being Wistful.

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When the Torch is Passed

11/14/2018

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This past week I lost the last of my aunts. The last of that generation of women in our family. The small town and farmer’s wives. The seamstresses and canners. The cooks and gardeners. The keepers of the houses of my vacation visits. The mothers of the cousins I ran with and the barely known older cousins. The repositories of memories of my father as a young boy and witnesses to grandparents that I never knew. And as I talked to a family member from my generation they commented that the torch for us women had been passed. We were now the oldest women in our individual family lines. It was up to our generation now.

So I have been thinking. What exactly does that mean “to pass the torch”? What does it mean to be one of the older women? For my individual family what does this torch look like? By definition to pass the torch means to take on the responsibilities, traditions and knowledge of another when they are no longer able. As my children are adults, they are responsible for themselves now and in turn for families of their own. Yes, we follow some traditions that are longstanding, but have also bent some for modern circumstances. The world we live in changes so fast that knowledge is outdated in the blink of an eye. So perhaps the concept of this torch, lit long ago, is allowed to change.

So here are some thoughts on my modern torch. I will be responsible not for every member of the family, but I will be the silent backbone. My responsibility is to give advice when asked, help when needed and to be there. I will continue the traditions that work for me, learn and share those that work for others and serve as a reminder that the most important tradition is to be a good person in all circumstances and to remember where your blessings come from. As for knowledge, it is useless unless shared. So ask and I will tell you what I know. I hope this is enough to keep the flame burning. Until the torch is passed again.

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UFO's

11/9/2018

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No I did not have a recent alien encounter. I had a different experience. At a recent crafter’s retreat I took some time to work on what is referred to as an “ unfinished object”. A UFO if you will. Something that you have had put away that is started but never finished. Perhaps like mine it is from a long ago class where some technique was learned but the project itself was then put aside because of time constraints. Perhaps your color choices, material combinations or techniques have evolved way beyond this basic first try but you never dropped the project in the trash (can’t waste it) or gave it away (not right for me but someone else might like it). So why revisit it at all?

Because I find after some reflection there is merit to be uncovered in that first try. I can see now that the seams may not be perfectly straight and the sewing may not have been on point. The way the cloth is put together is simple. But the material prints and colors remain pleasing to me. That simple pattern is classic. I now have enough experience to sew better and fix, or at least tweak, those imperfect seams into a pleasing finished product. And it is a little window into what my heart was creating so many years ago.

To be honest I will never be done with my UFO’s. Because I, myself, am my own constant unfinished project. To be perfected and tweaked. To be changed with experience but still retaining some of that fabric from the original bolt. Perhaps one day to be a pleasing finished product. The ultimate UFO.

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Thanksgiving

When the Torch is Passed

UFO's

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