Quilt Pieces

     I have a vague memory of my dad's mother; I can see her sitting in her rocking chair while I am playing on the floor. That's all I can remember.  Her rocking chair (hers because she sat in it when she came to visit) sits in my living room now, but she left something else of herself behind, something that makes me think of her and wonder what she was like. She was a quilter in her day, patiently cutting out scraps of cloth from old clothes and saving them for her quilts. Then, when she had enough, she would sew them together by hand. My dad's old pajamas, his sisters' gingham dresses, his mom's aprons, his brother's shirts, his dad's worn out work clothes: anything could end up in one of her quilts. I wonder what she thought about while cutting and sewing. Did she reminisce about those old clothes and who wore them? Was a quilt intended for someone in particular? Did she know that one day, a granddaughter would be enjoying her art work? Could she have guessed that this granddaughter would use one of her quilts to keep a sick child warm, or comfort a child afraid of the dark? Did she foresee a granddaughter that would snuggle under it for a Sunday afternoon nap? Her quilt was pieced together long before I was born, then tucked away to be quilted later. She never got around to it and it sat in a box. Years went by until it was quilted and given to me as a wedding present. I have used it to keep warm while nursing babies in the winter, I add it to the bed covers on my bed when the winter cold seeps into my bones, and when I need to add some cheer to a room.  It is always such a comfort to me. It's as if my grandmother is hugging me whenever I am underneath it.

     It makes me think about how the things we do today affect future generations. How we piece together our lives can steer the course of events that will follow long after we are gone. Wrong decisions and bad choices can result in chaos and unrest in our posterity. We can rip out the stitches of a quilt if it doesn't look right or if we made a mistake, but we can't do that in life. We can't undo our deeds or un-say words spoken in haste, but we can seek forgiveness and set a new course. Sometimes we have to do this daily. It's a weighty task, trying to live a life that will be a blessing to not only those people we will meet in our lifetime, but to those we will not meet. It's very possible there will be grandchildren and certainly great-grandchildren I will not live to see. And what I do today can affect their lives. How will I piece together this life I live? Will I love my husband and children wisely? What will the quilt of my life look like when I am done? Will it be beautiful like my Grandmother's quilt, neatly and lovingly stitched? Or will it be a crazy quilt, unevenly stitched, with clashing colors and patterns? My grandmother's stitches are still holding fast after all these years; will mine?