In Memoriam

Over here in the States, today is the day that we remember and support the men and women of the Armed Forces who have given their lives and who continue to risk their lives to protect the values that we as a society hold dear. I am grateful to my grandfather and two of my aunts who served in the military, and to all of those who have died in the name of protecting freedoms.

Today, though, I want to dedicate this space in the memory of my grandmother, who passed away this morning after a long and difficult battle against cancer. She was a warm and loving woman, and I know deep in my heart that she is in a better place, free from the pain and suffering associated with the disease.

My grandmother was the first person to teach me to knit, many years ago. I wish I could say that I took everything I learned from those lessons and have been knitting ever since, but unfortunately it didn’t quite stick back then. I remember sitting in the family room of her house, watching her cast on stitches for me to knit. She showed me how to knit a stitch, and then I blithely went along knitting in what I now know is garter stitch for many, many rows, until I got to what I had deemed the end and wonder upon wonders, somehow my grandmother couldn’t remember how to bind off. I remember knitting two together, row after row, until I had one remaining stitch at one end of a pointy rectangle.

Like the rest of my family, my grandmother was incredibly supportive of my obsessively crafty ways, and I am thankful to have had her in my life for as long as I did. Rest in peace, Grandma, and thank you.