The Strength in Community

 I saw my grandson today, and he’s changed, not as quick to laugh, to smile, but willing and needing the hug I offered.  His friend is dead, a concept he must struggle with, though the empty desk in his classroom, the absence at the hockey games are constant reminders.

Almost a week ago that 12 year old boy and his 10 year old sister were standing on the side of a country road waiting for the school bus. As the bus approached a car apparently came over the hill and lost control coming down the road, and hit the two children. 

The little girl suffered so many injuries, critical injuries, and was subsequently flown to the city and admitted to a trauma unit. To date she has had three surgeries, the last a nine hour operation to repair her spine. 

Her town and mine are deeply intertwined. People’s work lives, their shopping, their sports are shared. I’d like to say we are separated by only fifteen or so kilometres but right now I’m guessing.

Everyone wants to know how the family is doing, and wants to help. A candlelight vigil is planned for an evening this week, and money is being raised to help with expenses.

The father has written two Facebook postings that just make me want to cry. I can’t imagine him sitting down to write about his children in this way. He gives some information and it’s obvious he’s trying to be strong, to say just enough, but in my nurse’s opinion he’s shielding everyone from the true horror that this week has been. 

Details have been leaking out about the actual accident and it has been said the driver was seventeen and lost control coming down the steep hill with its mostly gravelled surface.

Another Facebook posting today was asking for people to reach out to this young man and his family. For their lives are also going to be greatly altered because of that morning’s events.

We’re hockey communities, and though things are greatly scaled down because of COVID-19, there is still some semblance of play. The hockey families will be supportive of this family, just as they were there for another hockey family a few months ago who lost everything in a house fire. 

Our small town has seen enough tragedy and heartbreak. I was hoping this would be the extent of our 2020 challenges but now we are faced with a daily increase in COVID cases in our county. 

I hope we weather this storm as we have others through the years, and pray that everyone will be there to welcome the new year feeling safe and strong.

❤️

Learning to Sew

 I sewed a lot before I moved seven years ago, but since that time it’s  been in the closet and never touched. Until my granddaughter showed an interest. 

I was glad to help her out, and was even going to give her my machine if she showed a sincere interest. 

The first lesson almost never happened as I had no fabric. But then I found a fleece blanket I had purchased for another project that I never started, let alone finished.

We found a hat pattern on line and made a couple of kids hats first. My measurements were off so the hats ended up toddler sized, but cute nonetheless.

When I moved I gave my son, my sewing apprentice’s father, all my stash of fabric to store for me. Last year we sorted through it and downsized from five or six vacuum sealed bags to two.  It’s a good indicator of how much he loves his Mom that he never complained, or badgered me to get rid of it.

I should tell you that I believe in treating my kids equally, which is why my daughter inherited boxes of framed artwork, empty frames and odds and ends of my art work at the time of my move.

My granddaughter took to sewing like a duck to water. Though we had only covered the basics, that seemed to be enough to get her started. I was going to give her my machine, after all I hadn’t seemed to miss it with all the other arts and crafts I do, but my son was reluctant. Rightly so. This little bit of sewing did awaken my love of sewing. I kept my machine and my apprentice got her own. As kids are so skilled in the use of the internet she has found herself many tutorials for sewing projects.

Meanwhile I’ve been making masks and added a sewing element to my Christmas crochet. (More on that later).

It’s been fun sharing this hobby with my granddaughter. She loves all genres of creating, painting, drawing and crochet, so I see many more joint projects in our future.

Parent’s Worst Nightmare

It’s early in the morning, kids rush out to stand on the side of the road to wait for the school bus. And in a split second, life as one family knew, changed forever.

Siblings, on a country road were struck by a truck, leaving a twelve year old dead, and a ten year old in critical condition.

Something like this hits our small community hard, and everyone feels the parents’ pain.

My twelve year old grandson is grieving for his friend, his classmate, his teammate. 

The shock of this tragedy resounds through the town. 

My heart goes out to the family, their loss is unfathomable.  

My heart goes out to my twelve year old grandson who is once again trying to understand and accept the unthinkable, the loss that comes with sudden death.

The Differences Between Men and Woman

 I made a trip out of town with my son, as he had a special order to pick up. I went along for the ride and the conversation. We made the usual detour to the drive thru for our coffee and tea and hit the highway.

On the way back he asked if I needed anything, and I replied “just milk, I’ll put a grocery order in later”. 

At the store I mentioned I also needed coffee creamer and tried to sneak in one more item.

“So what, now I’m shopping?” he replied. I would make do with the milk, the creamer, and the chicken strips that he so graciously added to his shopping. It makes me laugh, that this guy hates shopping so much yet always asks if I need anything.

Not long after I accompanied my daughter on an out of town errand she needed to make. (Adding the sold sign on the house she’d just sold”).

“I’m not like your son,” she said. When we hit the drive thru we also got breakfast.

I know we ran a number of errands that morning, picking up my online order at Walmart, her quick trips into the grocery and dollar stores.  As the weather gets colder these excursions where I wait in the car may not be as comfortable but I do enjoy the chance to visit uninterrupted.  

Life for everyone can get so busy, and you have to make the most of what opportunities are presented to keep in touch. Texting is great but nothing can replace a real face to face conversation.

I live alone, and like it that way. I spend my time as I want, painting, crocheting, and now, apparently writing. But after awhile I need some human contact, some real, some talk I don’t have to type.

So when I’m asked if I need anything, I might say yes, if for no other reason than the quick visit we can have when you come by. Works for me. 

Writing Memories

 The month of November is NaNo month. Or NaNoWriMo. It’s a contest, or challenge, to write a novel in the 30 days of November. It’s quite a daunting task and it requires a good deal of time and effort. I know, I’ve done it a few times. 

I haven’t been writing for a couple of years now, and miss it terribly. I can’t tell you how many blogs I’ve written in my head, usually when I’m trying to fall asleep.

I was in the midst of a new book about two years ago, the great unfinished novel (joking). I was in a rough state physically and could not sit for long without pain. I have multiple sclerosis and fibromyalgia, along with a wrecked back and a bad knee.  All of that meant I couldn’t spend much time on the computer, and for awhile there, I’ll admit, I really didn’t give a damn.

My daughter knew I loved my computer, for more than writing, and gifted me an iPad.  Now this I could use in bed when I needed to rest, and my laptop has been put away unused and abandoned.

We, my child instructor and I, loaded the usual things on, but not my book or my blogs. I finally added those this week as my skill has improved and I really hate leaving things unfinished.  

I rediscovered blogger stats and was shocked to see I had almost 300 views to the one blog in November. And this with nothing new posted in years.  Wait, that’s wrong, I did post once when things settled down, even got the book out, but then I was hit with a severe sciatica and couldn’t walk or sit for long. So it all got shoved back in the drawer so to speak.

Oddly enough, I’m doing better and want to give it all a try again. Seems a fall I had last year which resulted in a broken tailbone, also did an adjustment to my back that cured my sciatica.  

This is as good as I’m going to get, and at this stage of my disease, I’m thankful to still be mobile, all be it, with the use of aids.  Fatigue and brain fog may rob me of days spent writing, but there are more good than bad, so I will do my best to be productive, word wise.

I should have done this months ago, as I wasn’t venturing out and had everything I needed delivered.

This pandemic has affected everyone in some way.  We didn’t have many COVID cases in our county until recently, one of the benefits to small town living. The cities have definitely had a challenge with increasing cases, hospital admissions and their constant testing and tracing.

Stay safe people, may we soon see an end to this vicious virus.

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