Monday, October 11, 2010

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.

4 comments:

  1. It is amazing what adopted children go through. I have worked with several children with clefts, and several who were adopted. No mater what, the results are amazing. A typical adopted kiddo catches up with language in half the time they spent at the orphange! To me that is astounding, how their little brains work!

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  2. I think this is such a sweet post. Handmade heirlooms are the best stories.

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  3. I'm really glad you commented on my blog so I could 'discover' your blog.
    Your quilt is beautiful and your story behind it even more so.
    One of my favourite movies is a shamlessly girly chick flick "How to make an American Quilt", because of the stories behind it. The love quilted in to the fabrics and pieced together in your quilts, I'm sure will be remembered for ever. I am hoping to start a quilt myself soon, (I hope ambition doesn't take over skill).

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  4. what a beautiful post, i think handmade and something even more so about quilts hold such love in them.

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