Anyhow, my Grandma made knitted and crocheted and beaded and plastic canvas stuff for us when we were young. She and Grandpa whipped up wonderful meals of pot roast or turkey and lefse (like potato tortillas) and komla (potato balls) and butterhorn rolls and grape salad. We had homemade buttermilk pancakes or oatmeal for breakfast, and there was always plenty of kringla (soft cookies) and krumkake (crumb bombs) to keep 9 people happy for several days.
Grandma always smells good and her skin is like silk. She has always listened when I shared the little trivial things that were important to me. And I could feel her quiet, low voice and Grandpa's rich, deep one way down in my heart.
Being at their house was like visiting a wonderful other world of special food, music, familiar old toys, tea parties, and all-day playtime, and I always cried when it was time to leave.
Grandpa is gone now, and Grandma, now in her 90s, lives in a retirement home 14 hour away, so it's hard to make sure she knows, every day, how much we love her and how often we think about her. I made her this shawl and some neck warmers--and some krumkake--for Christmas in the hopes that they will speak for us when we can't be there. 'Bout time I made her something comforting and wonderful!
6 comments:
What a beautiful thought, that our gifts speak for us in our absence. Thank you for sharing that! And the neckwarmer is so lovely!
Thanks, Sarah. Sort of seemed the least I could do.
"And I could feel her quiet, low voice and Grandpa's rich, deep one way down in my heart."
I'm thinking you should be the one writing a novel. You have a lovely gift of evoking emotion in your writing!
I can't sustain it the way you do, though, Sharon. Hope it's going well!
The shawl is beautiful. How big is it? What kind of fiber did you use?
As for not being able to sustain novel length writing, I have just one word for you. Piffle. You have always done whatever you set your heart to doing and done it well.
I didn't measure it before I sent it, but I think it's about 60" long and about 16" wide. It's acrylic for easy care since all the laundry in the care facility is done together.
You are one to talk about setting your heart on something and making it happen! What I couldn't do is dial back the visual art long enough to focus properly on the writing.
While I've been keeping my hand in with the writing through PR and articles, I've been refining my art--it'd be a big job refining the writing from utilitarian to literary on a large scale. I'll keep going with essays and poetry, though, so maybe someday. but really, I don't need to be good at everything! ;-)
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