MY Prized Possession

This is MY most prized possession. My maternal grandmother made this quilt for me before I got married. I think she thought I needed something to keep me warm at night, since I was almost 25 before I got married.

It has been well loved and used. It has frayed almost all the way around. There are stitches that have popped and is in a great state of disrepair. It drives my husband nuts that we drag it around the house and snuggle under it still. He thinks it should be put away and admired from afar.

Granny made quilts for utility. They were meant to be used. And it is in her honor that I continue to USE this quilt. One day I will spread it out on the kitchen table and do what I can to repair the loose patches and holes in it, but until that day, it will continue to be used. It provides not only warmth, but comfort when it is needed most.

I remember my grandmother beginning to teach me to embroider when I was about 6 years old. Pillowcases, if I remember correctly. I remember her cutting out cardboard templates and patiently cutting out quilts, one piece at a time. The only pair of scissors I ever remember her using looked to be a pair of barber-style scissors. The only sewing machine she ever had was an old Singer treadle machine, that had a motor added to it. Nancy is in possession of that sewing machine.

Granny was my favorite grandparent. She was simple, country folk. She lived in a TINY 3 bedroom Jim Walter house that she and her children chopped cotton to buy. She was SO proud of that house. Now this house had ONE heater in it, and that was in the living room. So winter nights were spent under PILES of quilts on the bed. I grew so used to the weight of the quilts on the bed, that to this day I sleep under a blanket or quilt year round (I'm also the cold natured one in the family).

Granny, like my mother, was one of the most generous and non-judgemental people I have ever known. She, like Mama, accepted people as they were without reservation. Although, my mother and I became great friends as adults, we had a very tempetuous relationship during my teen years. I would threaten to go live with Granny weekly, it seemed. When we really needed a break from each other, I would go stay with her for a few days. We would just sit and talk, and soon I was back home where I really belonged. She was a very special lady and raised my mother to be the same. I miss the ability to walk in that back door at home and say, "I'm tired and discouraged. Please, mother me."

You know they say what goes around, comes around. My teenage daughter and I at times have the same type relationship that Mama and I did. I draw strength from the memories of my adult relationship with Mama, and pray, that Ashley and I will have the same strong tie when she grows up.