Resiliency

Why do authors write? Do you think it is so they will be remembered?  I have been thinking a lot about this lately.  My father in law just spent a week with us.  He is 75 and so wonderful.  He is starting a book about resiliency which is a magical trait to have.  He went through the death of his wife and a house fire in the course of 2 years.  He is resilient.

This past Spring I made a quilt.  I called it my son's new beginning quilt.  It was my first quilt.  It is waiting to be quilted by a very talented friend of mine.

This quilt is my son's new beginning quilt because at the time I made it he was going through a major transformation.  When we met our son in the orphanage he was 16 months old.  He weighed 16lbs, couldn't sit up on his own, crawl, or understand how to play.  He had been in the orphanage for his entire life.  We were so lucky he was still there waiting for us.  We fell so hard in love with him.  We brought him home after 4 months (that story can come later), when he was 20 months old.   He is resilient.  This son of ours, who at 20 months, when we brought him home had an unrepaired cleft palate because he did not weigh enough to have the surgery.

This quilt was made right before Dmitrii was scheduled to have his cleft palate repaired.  We had to wait 6 months so that we could fatten him up so that he would be bonded enough to understand that we were there for him no matter what.  Oh he is so resilient.

Will I be remembered by this quilt?  Not like an author, but by my son, and maybe his children if he so chooses to share the story of its creation.  I think that is the interesting thing about quilting.  If you are creating with intention, then that intention may be passed on to the receiver.

I am now making my second, a quilt for my sister and my brother in love (love that title for my sisters boyfriend).  Will I be remembered for that quilt, yes, a little each night as they cuddle underneath it.  I am in love with the idea of quilting and hope it manifests to more and more quilts for those I love.