Sometimes I Write

If you’ve been reading here for awhile, you may remember my posts about our good friends Kyle and Angi from Indiana. Last October they were on their way to Kyle’s sister’s house and were involved in a horrible accident that killed Kyle and left Angi with multiple injuries. I flew out to Indy to be with her for the funeral and a few extra days. When I returned home, I brought back several of Kyle’s favorite t-shirts to make Angi a memory quilt.

Angi had really liked the quilt I had made (with much help from my mom when she visited) for our king size bed. We had been lugging around t-shirts for 10 years and I decided it was time to make the quilt or get rid of the shirts. When we had finished it, I had said I would never make another one again because it was too hard. But while I was at Angi’s house the idea came to me that my making the quilt for her would be a great way to honor Kyle’s memory and a lovely, personal expression of my love for her. So I asked her to help me go through his shirts and pick out their favorites. I was feeling pretty sure of myself and told her I’d try to have it finished by Christmas. HA! That’s when God started stirring all of this Dry Bones stuff around, and life took on a new meaning of fast and furious.

Well…it is finally finished and I love it. I hope Angi does too. It is really a special quilt to me. I can’t give the details away just yet because Angi reads this and I want the final results to be a surprise. She is coming to Zenith next week, something she and Kyle had done together a couple of years ago. (That shirt is in the quilt.) I’m going to give it to her before camp starts so we can get the tearfest out of the way before everyone else arrives. I promise to post a picture of it when I get back from camp. I can say that it is special because it was the very first thing sewn on my new sewing machine that I got for my birthday last year from my MIL. (I told you I’m a procrastinator) It is special because I designed and created it just for Angi. It is special because I made it with my own two hands and my heart. It is special because it bears many of my tears, and no, I’m not washing it first…because I think it still carries a bit of his smell, at least the smell of their laundry soap, and that is all part of the memories.

Please keep Angi in your prayers next week. The last day of camp would have been their fourth anniversary and it’s going to be a hard day for her. I’m glad that I’ll be there to hug her and cry with her, just like I was the day we buried him. I miss Kyle a lot. I think he’d be thrilled with the quilt. I can only imagine…