Thread and Needle Art

This needlework picture was a gift to my mother from my Aunt May in 1982 (the date is written on the back).   It’s about 16 inches wide and 20 inches tall, and I can’t imagine how much time it must have taken for her to complete it. It was one of those lovely things that mom had hanging in her house and when I said how much I liked it she promplty went looking for a pen and a piece of masking tape, wrote my name and stuck it on the back.  It was how she decided what she would leave to people.  So we actually had to be careful what we admired if we didn’t want to end up taking it home with us.

The sticking of names on things was a lot easier than keeping a list I guess.  And it got to be a source of great family fun.  One of us would pick up an ornament and turn it over just to be able to complain that whoever was written there was getting all the good stuff, and it wasn’t fair.  Once I was teasing my youngest sister and she told me to shut up or she’d put my name on that ugly glass rooster on the top of the cupboard.  And if anyone mentioned that something was nice, someone else was sure to yell “Put your name on it!”

But I’m thrilled that my name was on this work of art and that it’s now a beautiful thing hanging in my house.  I think of my aunt and my mom whenever I look at it and the memory of them both is an even more beautiful thing.

 

What I Appreciate

Name something you appreciate about each of your immediate family members.

Two, four, six, eight; who do we appreciate? Rah, rah, ziss boom bah.

Immediate family = one’s parents, step-parents, siblings, spouse, children, step-children, foster children, in-laws, sibling in-laws, grandparents, great grandparents, step-great grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

That doesn’t sound nuclear, it sounds quite extended. When a medical person wants your family history, they don’t really care about your step brother in law or your maiden aunt twice removed. So I’ve always thought of immediate family as being biological relatives. I guess it’s all in the head of the definer.

To appreciate something means to be aware of it, to value it. Be grateful and thankful. Hold in high regard. Cherish. Understand. Applaud.

There. Now that I’ve defined everything to death, here’s the traits that I most appreciate in others. Kindness. Being caring and compassionate. Having an open mind. Tolerance. Optimism. A sense of humour.

All of my family members have one or more of these qualities in varying degrees. I don’t feel like drawing up a chart with check marks on it for every individual person and characteristic. There’s something to appreciate in just about everyone, although sometimes we might have to dig deep to discover whatever that might be. The hodgepodge assortment is what makes a family fun.

And if there’s some idiosyncrasy that I’m not all that fond of, it’s still a part of who that person is, and it’s easy enough to love them anyway.