Comfort and Strength...

Hello,

This is a heavy post for me.  Heavy in terms of emotion and seeing a long road ahead for a dear friend.  When I made this quilt top, I was working on one for John too.  Mine just kept growing and growing and this is how big it wanted to be.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, I was definitely putting it in the "tops to be quilted pile" which, somehow keeps getting larger... but that is a good thing right?  It means I am having a good time.  Sometimes, that is all it is, me having a good time.  I loved piecing this quilt, I felt such a satisfaction with how the design and colors came together with serendipity and meaning.

About a week and a half ago I was speaking to my sister on the phone and she relayed to me that a dear friend, the mom of her best friend from elementary school, had a fist size tumor in her liver.  It was cancer.  My sister was so upset that it took her 2 weeks to be able to tell me and try and process this news.  Our friend, Beth, is scheduled to have surgery tomorrow, March 5 @ 10:00 PST,  to remove the tumor, her gall bladder, and half of her liver.  She will be in the hospital for maybe a week?  But then the recovery time at home is going to be long and will require a grace and a strength from her and her family.  I believe the kind that we all have within us to get us through tough times

It really has been too much for me to think of.  All I could think of is how I have been so exhausted lately and that I had nothing to offer this woman and family that has been close to my family for the past 20 years.  Then, I only could think of a quilt.  I thought of how it feels when I am sick and snuggled under one of my quilts.  I just really like them for that.  I thought that could be healing, that I could, with what I have, give that... Comfort and Strength.

So, the past few days I have been pinning and quilting and sewing and sewing some more.  I sewed hope in to this quilt, prayers for healing, and most simply love.  This is what I could do, this is how I could process how scared I feel about her journey and about how much I love the "Auntie" that she has been to me.  To answer questions, throw a baby shower for my oldest son, share jokes and a delicious margarita, she is a fixture in my life, a corner post, and I believe that she is due a healthy long life.  She is a wonderful mother and teaches elementary school.  Parties at her house are always fun and inviting.  Her style is classy and snappy all at the same time.  I am so thankful to know her. 

I would like to invite, with her welcome and request as well, any one who feels able to send her prayers, positive thoughts, healing, how ever you feel led, tomorrow during her surgery.  It is scheduled for March 5 @ 10:00am PST.  If you read this post later, feel free to still participate.  I believe in the power of prayer.  Beth told me this morning that she just keeps thinking of Thursday night after the surgery and working on the healing that will come in the weeks after the surgery.  She also said that she believes that prayer, good thoughts, healing energy will all help her move through this time.

I feel blessed to be able to share my friend with you.

JMB