Afghan and again
Monday April 20th 2009, 5:06 pm
Filed under: Amaryllis,Friends,Knitting a Gift,Life

imgp7502So much to say. I can’t do justice to any of it.

I want to say how my friend Lisa, 20 years ago, decided she and I should go visit John at Children’s, that we did once a week while he was in there and how we got to have the joy of watching him coming back.  How the day Highway 880 was on almost total shut-down from an accident, the one day John’s mother Nanci couldn’t get through–Lisa had previously been a cop in Hayward and knew all the back roads.  She and I got our visit in, not knowing his mom was still stuck back there on the freeway.  It helped her later to find out he hadn’t been left alone after all.

Our time and sense of purpose together during that is what deepened our friendship to where, when I was diagnosed with lupus a year later, she was willing to volunteer to take my preschoolers every morning so I could go do swim therapy. She asked if I would then watch hers while she worked out.  Tara’s Redwood Burl shawl story in my book?  We’re talking about that Lisa.imgp7500

imgp7484I want to say how stunned I was to sign today for a package from Canada and find another afghan!!! and then, not only that, it was not one but TWO afghans made from squares people had started knitting in January via a Ravelry group to try to wish me back to good health.  Thank you, everybody, and especially Anne for putting all of those together.  (And for chocolate!)  All the well wishes, and arriving on the day I saw my surgeon, whom I adore, for a follow-up… Wow. What can I say? Wow.  How could anyone be anything but well after that?imgp7490

And it was kind of funny, because for a moment there when I gave my surgeon her black cashmere shawl as I’d waited so long to be able to do, it was almost as if she might protest something silly like I am not worthy!

And now here I sit feeling myself precisely in her shoes. Wow. What I haven’t said on the blog, is, I had that allergic reaction but also a staph infection on top of it and we’re still fighting it.  The afghans are a great comfort–this little bit of illness now is nothing.  I WILL get over this.

I’ve only begun to look at that Ravelry site. I want to savor it, I want to take it in, I want to soak up each post.  But for just this moment I can’t give it what it so much deserves, because I’ve got so much to do because I need to bake a cake and go to the grocery store and and and…

I want to say happy birthday to my Richard!  Maybe that’s why there were two afghans  in there?  Wow.  (You see? I can’t possibly do justice to all these subjects at once.)

imgp7503And especially because.  (Wishing her amaryllises from afar.) Kay of Mason-Dixon Knitting just lost her husband after a brief illness, someone far too young to go.  (But. But. NO. *I* got better, so everybody else should too!)  I am so sorry for her loss and her children’s.

Love your dear ones.  Life is so terribly short sometimes.

And thank you all for loving me so dearly and so knitterly and so well.  I am utterly gobsmacked. Again.

So much to say…


23 Comments so far
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Alison, we’re all so thrilled for you to have those afghans — the timing of this day, of bitterness and sweetness and healing and loss, could not have been more perfect if we’d tried. Much love to you, and to the birthday feller himself. — Anne

Comment by Anniebee 04.20.09 @ 6:25 pm

Congrats on the afghans. Happy Birthday, Richard!
And I’m so sorry about Kay’s husband.

Comment by RobinM 04.20.09 @ 6:50 pm

Alison, so great to read the elation in your words. Such a full day for you, with so many emotions. Glad we could “wrap” YOU “in comfort” this time! His and Hers afghans, what a perfect thought 🙂

Comment by Cathy (catsandyarn on ravelry) 04.20.09 @ 6:51 pm

wow beautiful afghans – all that love in one box —

and HAPPY BIRTHDAY Richard from rho and her Richard
🙂

Comment by rho 04.20.09 @ 6:54 pm

Alison, it is perfectly obvious that you are loved. You simply cannot give it away — it comes back to you many times over.

Now if you are still a bit under the weather, then it is time for me to continue what I started a few months ago — humor time!

Yesterday it was cats; today …

To: GOD
From: THE DOG

Dear God: Why do humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another?

Dear God: When we get to heaven, can we sit on your couch? – Or is it still the same old story?

Dear God: Why are there cars named after the jaguar, the cougar, the mustang, the colt, the stingray, and the rabbit,but not ONE named for a dog? How often do you see a cougar riding around? We do love a nice ride! Would it be so hard to rename the “Chrysler Eagle” the “Chrysler Beagle”?
Dear God: If a dog barks his head off in the forest and no human hears him, is he still a bad dog?

Dear God: We dogs can understand human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, clickers, beepers, scent ID’s, electromagnetic energy fields, and Frisbee flight paths. What do humans understand?

Dear God: Are there mailmen in Heaven? If there are, will I have to apologize?

Comment by Don Meyer 04.20.09 @ 7:44 pm

Hehehe! I can too keep a secret, once in a while!

Comment by Sherry in Idaho 04.20.09 @ 8:35 pm

Another beautiful post… they always put a smile on my heart.

Comment by Amanda 04.21.09 @ 3:12 am

Happy Birthday to your good man!
Wow and wow! to all the knitting givers of those afghans.
Condolences to Kay and her children. Oh, so sad.
We’ll keep them in our prayers.

Comment by Toni Smoky-Mountains 04.21.09 @ 4:32 am

I’m so glad you got the afghans! I’ve been on tenterhooks, waiting for your reaction! I was so glad to have been able to be a small part of something that gives you (and Richard!) the comfort and love that you give to everyone else. Hugs to you, and Happy Birthday to Richard!

I’m praying for Kay, too. I lost my husband to cancer in January 2007, and I’ve traveled the road Kay is about to travel. I hope the love she feels expressed from all her online friends bears her up through this time.

Comment by Pegi 04.21.09 @ 4:45 am

Happy Birthday, Richard. I’m so glad you have your Alison to bake a cake for you today!

Comment by Barbara-Kay 04.21.09 @ 5:16 am

But of course so many you have touched want to wrap YOU in comfort and good wishes too… It’s only natural…

I hope Richard had a very nice birthday. (And wasn’t it fun to get presents on HIS birthday?)

So sad to hear about Kay’s family’s loss. It’s almost always too soon, but we do have a notion of order to these things, don’t we? Would that everyone could live life into their old, old age, having seen their grandchildren grow up… My grandmother really was ready to go at 98, and I think one of the reasons her death brought less grief was because I knew she was at peace and ready to go after a life well-lived.

Comment by Channon 04.21.09 @ 5:45 am

I’m so sorry for your allergy/staph set-back, but your willingness to reveal it came at the right time for me, to remind me that the path up isn’t always smooth.
I’ve been making invidious comparisons between my awful experience with chemo that only began last week and my dh’s experience 5 years ago. I have been telling myself if he could have chemo in the a.m. and eat lunch in the car, and spend the afternoon at work, I could surely do much the same. Un-uhh. Yes, I know, entirely different chemo for a different diagnosis, but I did not expect each day to be a new struggle. (At least I got my hands back yesterday! 🙂
“Thank you so much for your willingness to share the not-so-good” seems like a really odd thing to say, but there it is. You remind me I’m not alone.

Carol in MA

Comment by Carol Telsey 04.21.09 @ 6:44 am

Happy Birthday Richard! Thinking of you both today.

Comment by Michelle 04.21.09 @ 7:16 am

There, you said it all, and beautifully so.
Now go get better and tell that staph to hit the road.

Comment by karin 04.21.09 @ 7:34 am

Alison, you deserve every bit of love, in whatever form be it an afghan or yarn or chocolate, that is sent your way. Enjoy!

Comment by Joansie 04.21.09 @ 7:50 am

The afghans are absolutely lovely, and it sounds like they’re exactly what you need right now! I hope that staph infection gets its butt kicked by all the lovingkindness!

Comment by Jocelyn 04.21.09 @ 8:36 am

I can just see you and Richard cuddled under those afghans :-}
Staph can be pernicious, but I know you can beat it!

Comment by Diana Troldahl 04.21.09 @ 8:42 am

Feel better, Alison! And happy birthday to Richard–you’ve both triumphed through quite a year! May you feel the love bouncing back from your many good deeds and kindnesses new and old!

Comment by Amy S. 04.21.09 @ 11:26 am

They’re beautiful. Wish the snaps were embiggenable.

Comment by LynnM 04.21.09 @ 11:29 am

Its no wonder that you don’t have words for so many different emotions at once!
First, I’m sorry you’re having to deal with staph. After all you’ve been thru, you’re entitled to a lifetime of good health. Happy Birthday to Richard! Wow for the beautiful afghans! Condolences to Kay and her children. They’ll be in my prayers.

Comment by TripletMom 04.21.09 @ 11:48 am

Happy Birthday Richard! Now you two can both have your own afghan to wrap you in comfort and love! They are beautiful!
Thank you for sharing the info regarding Kay’s loss. I just went and sent my condolences. How sad.

Comment by Alicia 04.21.09 @ 12:06 pm

First of all, Happy Birthday to you, Richard! It’s been a tough year for your family and I’m so glad that Alison can be up and bake you a cake and can eat it, too! The afghans are awesome! You are certainly loved around the world! You deserve every lov’n stitch.
Hugs, Nancy

Comment by Nancy 04.21.09 @ 4:04 pm

Glad you got the afghans; it was a fun project, especially knowing that it was for YOU. Know that you are loved, even by people who have only the smallest of connection to you. Heal well.

Comment by Betsy 05.12.09 @ 11:46 am



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