A Gift from Grandma

I was 18 and headed to college…focus elsewhere…eager to leave home and branch out in the world.

Little care or interest in the 2 quilts my grandmother determinedly gifted:

Simple but sturdy patchwork bundles in mismatched colors and hand-me-down fabrics. Each was lovingly inscribed with her and her mother’s names as the makers further detailing them as a gift to Kathi (my family’s nickname for me).

At the time, I just couldn’t fully appreciate them nor her determination to ensure each grandchild received one of these family heirlooms. But she knew she was facing her final chapters at 85 years old and legacy was paramount. For a woman who spent her adult life as a homemaker raising 5 children and tending a farm these handmade quilts were symbolic.

They were a gift of deep and abiding love — literally a collection of threads to tie one generation to the next in a chain of female ancestors who cared for, protected, and kept warm their loved ones.

Now looking back I understand this. I fully appreciate the beauty she gave and the links she was trying to ensure remained unbroken.

Every time I wrap myself up in one of these treasures I feel that love and connection.

If you’ve been blessed with a meaningful family heirloom handed down mother to daughter, grandmother to granddaughter, aunt to niece, godmother to goddaughter…take it out this Mother’s Day weekend and cherish those connections.

Use it!

For it is in the using of it that those connections are kept alive.

Happy Mother’s Day!