Time for a post... Family Friday
Indeed. Where the hell have I been. I have been crafting, dreaming of crafting and wishing there were no other distractions so that I can craft some more.
I freaked out yesterday when I realized it was a month from Christmas Eve. Yikes! Time to get my ass in gear.
Last night at Brownies, I taught the girls "Must be Santa" and added 13 ASL (American Sign Language) signs to it. They are going to work on their "Communication is Where it's @" badge and it includes learning other ways to communicate such as sign language and brail. They thought it was pretty cool, especially when they they learned that the sign for reindeer was to put their hands up to their heads like antlers. They will perform their song in front of their parents next week at our Christmas Gathering.
I've been busy trying out some amigurami softies. Just funny little creatures, nothing fancy. I've also been crocheting a granny square afghan. Not sure who's going to get it, I just hate to sit around watching TV if my hands are not busy. I've been busy making art dolls and sending them to my exchange partners. I've been putting the finishing touches of embroidery on my Backtack project. Yes I whispered that word.
I've been reading my regular blogs and seeing what everyone is up to. Life has been going on as well. My Mom took a job out of town so I have been enjoying starting to write letters again. Which brings me to Family Friday.
If I would have had more forethought this morning, I would have brought in and scanned some of the letters that my Grandmother left to me when she passed away. When I was young, I had the wonderful gift of two Grandmothers who felt that letter writing was an expectation of a proper upbringing. My maternal Grandmother (mom's mom) lived in Whitehorse, Yukon. She had 8 children and a hoard of grandchildren, and yet she wrote to us all faithfully. I cannot even begin to explain how special I felt when the mail was brought in and there was a letter for me. I didn't know my mother's mom very well, she lived so far away. The fact that our whole relationship was based on letters and all of it between her and I, that she was interested in everything I had to say was a gift. Especially growing up in a family with many troubles. Just before Lina turned two, my Grandmother passed away. I decided I needed to go to her memorial service so my Mom, my Mom's foster daughter, Lina and I flew up to Whitehorse. We visited with family I hadn't seen for quite a while and met cousins I had never seen face to face. And after the memorial service the Aunts and I sat down and went through my Grandmothers things. While my Grandmother was alive, I rarely saw her without knitting needles or a crochet hook in her hands. She was of the mind that idle hands were a lazy waste. I still have two afghans that she made for me when she came to live with my parents for a year before I was ten. They are two of my prized posessions and I snuggle them under my duvet when the weather turns cold. When the Aunts and I met to divide her things it wasn't furniture or money or china or anything that we were interested in. Not at that special gathering. It was her collection of well used needles and leftover balls of yarn and pattern books. I had such a feeling of family and inclusion at that moment with the knowledge that the Aunts had waited for me before the opened those boxes that had been packed away when my Grandmother moved into the hospital for the last time. My Aunt Pat took her needles, and if I remember correctly may have taken home an incomplete afghan to complete as well. I came home with her pattern books. But most amazingly, I came home with letters I had written to my Grandmother when I was little and that she had kept all those years. It brings tears to my eyes even now to think that she felt our correspondance was just as special as I did. Although, she had the foresight of an adult and kept my letters, hers I have lost over the years.
My paternal Grandmother was a strict proper women with many peculiar beliefs. She lived in Beaverton, Ontario so we were able to visit many times throughout the year. She heartily felt that a wife's job was to serve the husband and keep house for him and that children were best seen and not heard. She used to be a grammer teacher before she had her family. I would never say that we were close, I was not a boy. She and my brother do have a lasting relationship though. As kids, we used to enjoy finding ways to get into mischief without Grandma catching us. Mom and Dad usually listened to her and meeted out some punishment or another if Grandma caught us up to no good.
But, my Grandma did write letters. She was a different person to me in those letters. Exclaiming pride in my accomplishments and being very gracious with her return correspondance, suggesting resolutions to my problems and asking after my friends. She is 93 now, still living on her own albeit she is not mobile anymore. And even though she and I do not have regular correspondance, I know that two of my cousins write to her without fail on a regular basis. She is not able to answer them being to frail but I feel a sense of satifaction that she can have this comfort even now.
Last Sunday, I sat Lina down and helped her write what was basically her first letter to her Grandma. It felt wonderful to sit at the kitchen table with music playing in the background, me writing a letter to my mom, Lina composing a letter all her own. She told her Grandma that she had visited the Humane Society, that she had earned her "Pet Pals" badge by telling her friends about how to care for animals and that she had seen a cat at the Society that she would have named Buttons. Helping her to start the letter "Dear Grandma, How are you? I am fine", well what can I say, it felt right to continue a long standing family tradition in such a simple way. Grandma should have the letters now. Lina made her an art doll and included a photograph she had taken at the Sudbury Science Centre. I hope my Mom keeps these little correspondances, it would be nice for her to share them with Lina some day when Lina has a little one of her own.
I can't wait to see what my Mom writes back. I asked her to address Lina's letter to her personally. Family Friday, the continuation of a special tradition.
I freaked out yesterday when I realized it was a month from Christmas Eve. Yikes! Time to get my ass in gear.
Last night at Brownies, I taught the girls "Must be Santa" and added 13 ASL (American Sign Language) signs to it. They are going to work on their "Communication is Where it's @" badge and it includes learning other ways to communicate such as sign language and brail. They thought it was pretty cool, especially when they they learned that the sign for reindeer was to put their hands up to their heads like antlers. They will perform their song in front of their parents next week at our Christmas Gathering.
I've been busy trying out some amigurami softies. Just funny little creatures, nothing fancy. I've also been crocheting a granny square afghan. Not sure who's going to get it, I just hate to sit around watching TV if my hands are not busy. I've been busy making art dolls and sending them to my exchange partners. I've been putting the finishing touches of embroidery on my Backtack project. Yes I whispered that word.
I've been reading my regular blogs and seeing what everyone is up to. Life has been going on as well. My Mom took a job out of town so I have been enjoying starting to write letters again. Which brings me to Family Friday.
If I would have had more forethought this morning, I would have brought in and scanned some of the letters that my Grandmother left to me when she passed away. When I was young, I had the wonderful gift of two Grandmothers who felt that letter writing was an expectation of a proper upbringing. My maternal Grandmother (mom's mom) lived in Whitehorse, Yukon. She had 8 children and a hoard of grandchildren, and yet she wrote to us all faithfully. I cannot even begin to explain how special I felt when the mail was brought in and there was a letter for me. I didn't know my mother's mom very well, she lived so far away. The fact that our whole relationship was based on letters and all of it between her and I, that she was interested in everything I had to say was a gift. Especially growing up in a family with many troubles. Just before Lina turned two, my Grandmother passed away. I decided I needed to go to her memorial service so my Mom, my Mom's foster daughter, Lina and I flew up to Whitehorse. We visited with family I hadn't seen for quite a while and met cousins I had never seen face to face. And after the memorial service the Aunts and I sat down and went through my Grandmothers things. While my Grandmother was alive, I rarely saw her without knitting needles or a crochet hook in her hands. She was of the mind that idle hands were a lazy waste. I still have two afghans that she made for me when she came to live with my parents for a year before I was ten. They are two of my prized posessions and I snuggle them under my duvet when the weather turns cold. When the Aunts and I met to divide her things it wasn't furniture or money or china or anything that we were interested in. Not at that special gathering. It was her collection of well used needles and leftover balls of yarn and pattern books. I had such a feeling of family and inclusion at that moment with the knowledge that the Aunts had waited for me before the opened those boxes that had been packed away when my Grandmother moved into the hospital for the last time. My Aunt Pat took her needles, and if I remember correctly may have taken home an incomplete afghan to complete as well. I came home with her pattern books. But most amazingly, I came home with letters I had written to my Grandmother when I was little and that she had kept all those years. It brings tears to my eyes even now to think that she felt our correspondance was just as special as I did. Although, she had the foresight of an adult and kept my letters, hers I have lost over the years.
My paternal Grandmother was a strict proper women with many peculiar beliefs. She lived in Beaverton, Ontario so we were able to visit many times throughout the year. She heartily felt that a wife's job was to serve the husband and keep house for him and that children were best seen and not heard. She used to be a grammer teacher before she had her family. I would never say that we were close, I was not a boy. She and my brother do have a lasting relationship though. As kids, we used to enjoy finding ways to get into mischief without Grandma catching us. Mom and Dad usually listened to her and meeted out some punishment or another if Grandma caught us up to no good.
But, my Grandma did write letters. She was a different person to me in those letters. Exclaiming pride in my accomplishments and being very gracious with her return correspondance, suggesting resolutions to my problems and asking after my friends. She is 93 now, still living on her own albeit she is not mobile anymore. And even though she and I do not have regular correspondance, I know that two of my cousins write to her without fail on a regular basis. She is not able to answer them being to frail but I feel a sense of satifaction that she can have this comfort even now.
Last Sunday, I sat Lina down and helped her write what was basically her first letter to her Grandma. It felt wonderful to sit at the kitchen table with music playing in the background, me writing a letter to my mom, Lina composing a letter all her own. She told her Grandma that she had visited the Humane Society, that she had earned her "Pet Pals" badge by telling her friends about how to care for animals and that she had seen a cat at the Society that she would have named Buttons. Helping her to start the letter "Dear Grandma, How are you? I am fine", well what can I say, it felt right to continue a long standing family tradition in such a simple way. Grandma should have the letters now. Lina made her an art doll and included a photograph she had taken at the Sudbury Science Centre. I hope my Mom keeps these little correspondances, it would be nice for her to share them with Lina some day when Lina has a little one of her own.
I can't wait to see what my Mom writes back. I asked her to address Lina's letter to her personally. Family Friday, the continuation of a special tradition.
posted by ria at Friday, November 25, 2005
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