Grandma's Hug

My Grandma Woelfel passed away almost two years ago leaving over 200 direct descendents. Grandma and Grandpa had eight daughters (no sons, mind you), 39 grandchildren (I am #18), and I don't know how many great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Christmases at Grandma and Grandpa's little house when I was small, were loud, fun, and filled with love. Aunties were just as likely as moms to get after their nieces and nephews to play or for discipline. We were the stereotypical "one big happy family." All of us knew we could count on having Grandma's special home made chocolate cake, and getting Grandma's hugs.

Grandma was very German and she was as wide as she was tall. She was "skooshy." When you hugged Grandma, it was like hugging a great big feather pillow. There was nothing else like it in the world. Grandma's hugs were hands-down the best.

After Grandma passed away, my mom and her sisters did what needed doing...going through Grandma's things, keeping some and giving others away. My mom, among other things, ended up with some of Grandma's clothes. Because I am a plus-sized woman, mom has several times, over the past two years, asked if I would like to have some of them. Every time she asked, I politely declined. That is, until this morning. I decided that I would finally have a look at Grandma's clothes and then nicely tell my mom that I didn't want them. "Granny clothes," you know? And yes, they were "granny clothes" except I realized there was something special there that was not based on style or color. (Not that I am by any means a "fashionista," far from it in fact.)

Included in the selection was a khaki colored knit cardigan. It is nice and heavy, and I told my mom she should keep it; that she could wear it, think of Grandma, and know that she was getting a hug from her. Mom said that she had enough things of Grandma's and that I should take it if I wanted it. I gratefully accepted and draped the sweater over my arm. I could almost feel Grandma's skooshy hug as I ran my hand over the soft knitted fabric. I know that every time I wear it, I will be getting a hug from my Grandma. And that is something that I never thought I would feel again...Grandma's Hug.

Just Do What Needs Doing

On Monday night, I received a phone call from (this gets a little tricky here *smile) the mother-in-law of my son by my husband's first marriage. It probably sounds confusing, I know, but Robert is mine as much as the four children here at home are. There was a family crisis and mother-in-law wanted to let me know that she had urged Robert (my step-son) to call me and my husband, Robert's dad. After I got off the phone with Robert's mother-in-law, I returned a call that Robert had placed while I was out. He kept saying "I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't know what I'm going to do." We talked about just doing what needs doing. We talked about making good choices, no matter the circumstances of our birth, our upbringing, our education etc. We talked about accepting responsibility for our own actions and dealing with whatever life hands you because you simply have no choice. You do what you have to do. I may not have ever been in the same situation that he's currently in, but heaven knows that we (my family and I) have had a lot of experience with learning how to handle crises and the difficult things that have come our way in addition to the every day things.

I had intended to post about this subject Tuesday morning, but we had a family emergency. My mom, while on the phone with 911, came to get me. (Thankfully, we live next door to each other.) My dad had a seizure and was unconscious. I ran next door with mom, told her to go in the house and get a blanket, and then sent my daughter (who had followed me over there) home to get her dad. My dad was transported via ambulance to Lakeview Memorial Hospital. David drove my mom down, and after going home to call my brothers and my uncle, and to leave my oldest daughter in charge of her siblings, I drove down in our car. Dad briefly regained consciousness on the way to the hospital, but didn't regain full consciousness until early afternoon. In the meantime, he was stabilized and his tongue stitched up where he had bitten it.

Mom, David, and I had a lot of time to talk in the hospital waiting room. It occurred to me that perhaps my action, in telling my mom to go and get a blanket, seemed cold or disrespectful. I do not, after all, recall ever ordering my mom to do anything. It's something that is simply not done in my family. My mom said, however, and I have said many times (especially in recent days and like I posted here originally) that you "do what needs doing." In essence, action is oftentimes better than inaction, and maybe especially in times of crisis. Even if that action is as seemingly mundane as getting up in the morning, eating breakfast, and going out the door to work. And by the way, mom has been absolutely solid. She is, for the most part, a worry wart. But when it comes to the really big things, she is an absolute rock. The one and only time that I flew into hysterics, for example, (the day that my son's diagnosis sunk in) she was...what is that old saying...as cool as a cucumber.

I am happy to say that my dad was able to leave the hospital Wednesday morning and come home. He was a bit wobbly; okay, he was a lot wobbly, and he used a wheelchair when leaving the hospital and without argument (huge concession on his part). But at least he's home. Yay!!!

Life is good...even when it's not!

Christmas On My Mind

Okay, call me goofy, but I have Christmas on my mind. Well, anyone who knits, crochets, or does other types of needlework or craftwork would understand.

This year, in an effort to use what I have and thereby save costs, I am starting my Christmas crafting early, and using (hopefully?) only those yarns that I already have on hand. To that end, I just finished a shawl for my mother-in-law, using yarns from my stash. I do not know for sure that she wears shawls, but I do know that she likes the colors that I used.

The name of the shawl is "Simple Yet Effective Shawl" and it's by Laura Chau. Floating around in my head for my next project, or at least in the queue, is a moose; not a caribou, a moose. My sister-in-law wants a moose. The first thing that popped into my head when she said that was a large, crocheted, and stand-alone version of a carved moose sculpture belonging to my husband. If it works, it will (hopefully?) be spectacular. If not; well, I can always make her some moose mittens, or a version of Calorimetry with moose antlers sticking out the sides. Yea, that could work. (grin)

I think my next project to actually cast on for will be a prayer shawl for my mom. In light of everything that is going on right now, I think that will be a really good idea...especially the prayers.