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Wander project quilts :-)

My mother loves to say “It’s your memory.” The other phrase she loves to say other than turkey buzzard (that one is normally applied to another person or driver with you are an in front of it) is My pen, Rai. I suspect I’ve spelled it incorrectly as it is a phrase in Thai. It means loosely “it doesn’t matter.” That is the reality of memories. Those that are shared or common and the perception of what happened, my pen rai. They don’t matter now that they are in the past. What matters is truly the now. Memories not written down all those years ago, are suspect no matter who you are. No matter your recollection of the events, it is suspect. If there isn’t a video and there isn’t a picture, your memory is colored by time and bias.

That said, the pictures shared today are of some of my mother’s quilts. If you love quilts, you can find a number of the quilts my mother and her partners sell here. I would say I don’t sleep without one, but you would expect that. As I strive ever to be a dutiful son, it is important to support your parents. I will, however, share a different story about quilts. First off, don’t ask my mother to make a quilt you can change the oil of your car on. Having asked that question, she doesn’t like that. So I do not have a quilt to put on the ground for when I am changing the oil in my car. Of course, the other side of that argument is I haven’t changed the oil in my car in many many years.

My children sleep with the quilts. I remember there was a time when we would take them with us on vacation. Every driving event that was longer than two hours, the kids had one of Grandma’s quilts in the car with them. When my wife finished her master’s degree, my mother made her a specifical quilt (with a handwritten message on the back)! Each child got a quilt they started as youngsters when they graduated high school. Each quilt is magical. I have three quilts that are decorative hanging in the house that was made just for me. One is made of the this worn by the grandfather and father and includes their pictures. It hangs in the master bedroom of our house. The other two are sports-themed; one is a map of Indiana with Bloomington (home of IU!) pointed out. The other is Cubs quilt. Mom made that one for me after they won the world series in 2017. But I treasure every quilt mom has made. Those three just stand out as very special for me!

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What do you think?

Written by DocAndersen

One fan, One team and a long time dream Go Cubs!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8 Comments

  1. You have many memories Doc and are very blessed as you know with these beautiful quilts. I have some my Grandmother made and I treasure them.

    I have to address something you said above about memories…

    …”They don’t matter now that they are in the past. What matters is truly the now. Memories not written down all those years ago, are suspect no matter who you are. No matter your recollection of the events, it is suspect”.

    Not sure I agree completely and I know that is ok. But if I agreed, then what about all the memories I have of Dustin that have not been talked about. I don’t consider those suspect. They are very special and close to my heart. Just sayin’

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    • It is a balancing act that we have to consider. I suspect the very words I wrote yesterday aren’t the words I would use to describe things today. The sand does shift after all. I guess I would say I do agree with you. It is important to share, but to also keep those memories you treasure.

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  2. Your mother is an exceptional person. She must have the patience and the virtue of an angel or a saint. I personally knit, crochet, do cross-stitch and needlepoint, tat, and I am slowly learning how to do lace but I have never taken up quilting. But after looking at all these beautiful artful quilts, I just might take it up and start quilting.

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