Embracing Freedom

Embracing Freedom. Grace is my story. Hope is my anchor. Joy is my strength. Laughter is my song.

Friday 13 July 2012

A tribute to Glad

I've been sewing! Whipped up these mean little nap mats for the kiddliwinks ...



Zachy chillin out on his new Thomas Nap Mat

They were sooo easy, thanks pinterest for the inspiration! All i did was zig zag sew 5 pillows together, pop some pillows in and voila, a handy dandy nap mat! Well, they would have been easy ... if my 1st attempt hadn't had me persevering for four hours solid (not even kidding, and NOT exaggerating in the slightest)! I was so determined to do this for the kids one Saturday in time for family movie night, that every time the cotton broke (which was about every 10 seconds) i just tried again. After 4 hours when i was only a quarter of the way through sewing my 2nd and 3rd pillow together, I finally gave up. I decided the sewing machine needed a service, so took it to the shop and when they quoted $130 to have it serviced, i brought some oil instead and took it home and gave it a good clean and oil. That seemed to do the trick actually, (oh and Brenton's mum had a good look at it for me, changed a few settings) and now its working wonderfully. Which is quite fabulous really, since it was brought in 1985 by my Nana!

It was quite incredible actually, as i used the machine i have inherited from my Nana, Gladys Catherine Wilson, a truckload of memories started flooding back. Memories of staying in Napier during the school holidays as a kid, and going to sleep with the sound of the sewing machine whirring away in the lounge. I remembered times when i was sleeping in the same room as the machine, and sometimes in the middle of the night i would wake up, the bedroom light would be on and Nana would be sewing away. Nana was so creative, she was always making something. Dolls, teddy bears, you name it, she could make it, and she would be up to the early early hours of the morning doing it! I remember waking up in the middle of the night, walking out to the lounge, it would be 2am, and Nana would be making ... but she would see me, put down what she was doing, open her arms and wrap me up with a big cuddle. I remember 5am starts on a Saturday and Sunday morning, to head down to Marine Parade where she would set up her stall and sell all her marvellous creations. When Zac was born she made him a beautiful little teddy bear, this was the last of her creations we were given, it sits with pride of place on a shelf in his room. What I've realised as I've started creating lately ... is that I've inherited my Nana's creativity, and even though i miss her like crazy, when I'm sewing on her old machine, or making something, I'm reminded of her, and i feel close to her again.



Using what has become one of my most treasured possessions - the 1985 sewing machine inherited from my Nana.

I'm so grateful for these memories, because since Nana has died the memories most vivid have been the ones of her body wasting away and her struggling to breath as she fought a long and hard battle against cancer. She was a fighter, a woman who showed a strength i haven't seen in many people, a woman who desired a united family, a woman who loved us with everything she had, a woman who taught me to put vicks on my children's back, chest and FEET when they have a cold (cos that's what she did for me), a woman who made me promise to teach my son to be good to women, a woman who I admire and respect, a woman who influenced me to be the person I am today.

My Nana holding Zachy at his dedication in 2009.
I'm thankful to be reminded of the good memories I have of my Nana, and the influence she's had in my life. Who are the people who have had the most influence in your life? What memories do you have of them? I think it's essential to remember those who have gone before us, what they've taught us and what we can pass on to our own children and the generations to come.

Some not so itsy bitsy thoughts from me.