Making Memories

This is the time of year when families get together and "make memories" - typically kicking things off with a big Thanksgiving and then the countdown begins for Christmas!

For some people the holidays can be both joyful and painful. Seems there are a lot of people I know who have family members with serious illness or have lost loved ones recently, many are entering into the first holiday season after a loved ones' passing. It never seems to get easier - as I too have once again walked through the anniversary of my dad's passing some 8 years ago....yes, the ups and downs of the holidays....

Everyone deals with their own grief in their own way. Some like to hold on to special items from their family member, some enjoy photos, others just want to keep their memory alive by recalling special times together.

Every once in a while I'm asked to make a "memory quilt" from a deceased family member's clothing so that those left behind have a tangible remembrance, a "hug" so to speak as they cuddle up in a quilt that is unique and one of a kind, one that holds special memories and can bring comfort during times of sorrow.

Recently I was given men's suits and ties along with a few special photos to make a lap quilt for a granddaughter to remember her granddad...

A few scatterings of blocks made from ties and a few photos are sprinkled in among a wide variety of fabrics from pants and suits, tied together with a little red fabric to add to the colors of the clothing with hopes to make this holiday a little more special...

It's always a privilege to be entrusted with a family's heirloom, and it is my hope that this quilt brings joy to the receiver not only this holiday season, but for many seasons to come.

As with my own dad, there are so many times I miss him....and I think of how much he'd be enjoying the family right now as my two sons have chosen their soul mates - oh how much he's approve of the girls! How he would tease them and laugh with them, and love welcoming them to the family...sometimes these thoughts are painful as I truly wish he could share things with all of us...yet because I know where he is I realize how selfish it is to want him back...the separation is truly the hardest on those left behind . Every now and then I reflect on the fact that my dad certainly knows a whole lot more than me about heaven, angels, the saints who have gone before and oh how wonderful it must be to gaze upon the Redeemer...our Savior...face to face! One day I'll share that knowledge....

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— ⁷ for we walk by faith, not by sight— ⁸ we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and⁾to be at home with the Lord. ⁹ Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. ¹⁰ For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.