A Pleasant Diversion Amidst Sorrow

As you may have gathered from my previous post, my dear Mom passed away the day after Thanksgiving. I was with her when she died and I feel good about that. It all happened much faster than anticipated: I had a long discussion with the doctor on Monday afternoon, (he felt confident to make a diagnosis by then), and by Friday morning it was over. She was in discomfort, but apparently she sidestepped the pain and suffering that her type of cancer would have induced. Typically, it was she who comforted me, assuring me she had had a long, happy life--and she was right....of course!

My daughter and I are sorting out her belongings and cleaning her apartment. Days of busy exhaustion have helped to numb what will become a settled-in sort of longing for this person who is no longer physically in our lives.

Two other sentient beings remind us that life is for the living--as it should be.... Have you ever seen anything more adorable than this??!! .....

An 89 pound Punch and an 8 or 9 pound Lola--they are buddies now! The two of them playing together is something of an art form; when the width of one dog's tail is equal to the size of the other dog's neck, it could get dicey! But it hasn't! Smiles all around!

R.I.P.

So live in each season as it passes;

breathe the air,

drink the drink,

taste the fruit,

and resign yourself

to the influences of each.

--Henry David Thoreau

R.I.P. Mom..... (1917-2009)

"Some Assembly Required"

My Mom is an crocheting machine! Everyone in my family has one of her creations and I'm not exaggerating when I say I have probably 20 of them! She's always been artistic, with an eye for color--the bolder, the better! We've had a lot of fun over the years collaborating on design ideas. One of her projects that I have to admit I took for granted was the "63 Square Afghan." (If you're not familiar with the design, it's 63 squares, each made of an entirely different pattern; kind of a crochet sampler of sorts.) She churned out one of those babies in no time--in tans and greens--and had a grand time doing it. (It's hanging on a quilt rack in my livingroom now.)

Since she had such fun making the first one, I asked her if she'd consider making another one, only this time in one color to accentuate the textures. She said if I bought the yarn, she'd do it! So.... we presented her with a box of wool skeins, with the following instructions written on it:

Contents: 1 Wool Afghan. Some Assembly Required.

Mr. Pocketts and I trundled off to Mexico for an extended vacation and upon our return we were presented with the box--only this time it was full of neatly stacked, finished squares! (Each square even had it's own little numbered tag affixed) ....with some assembly required!

I'm embarrassed to say I did not get right on that...it's been about 3 years now. So.... considering my Mom's questionable health outlook, (nothing definitely known yet; it's depressing, but nevermind), I thought maybe she'd like to finally see the finished product. And who doesn't need some motivation?!

The squares are now laid out on a futon mattress which was temporarily on the guest room floor--it made the perfect blank slate. I'm now diligently assembling strips (have about 5 done so far). It's turning out nicely--I think she'll be pleased!

When I discovered entire online groups are devoted to making--or at least talking about making--this afghan (I am not a member of any such group), I tried to describe this phenomenon to Mom. She couldn't help but laugh, having already been through it all--twice!