My grandmother passed away not one year ago, after a long trial of dementia. I didn’t know about this disease until she got it very early on (mid to late 60’s or so). At the time, I just remember being frustrated and angry about why she wasn’t interacting with people or why she stopping baking and sewing and gardening; being her normal-self, really. I just thought she gave up after my grandfather passed away. But I now know that wasn’t the case, or at least the full story anyhow.
If you don’t know what this disease is here’s a brief excerpt from google:
“Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behavior. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia.”
It’s not fun, but what disease is?
Going back 15 years, the family moved my grandmother into a smaller condo and sold her house. Since she needed to downsize her belongings, a lot of her craft stuff was the first to go since she no longer had the desire to do it. It’s unfortunate, but I can only think that most of her old patters, notions, and sewing machine was given away to the Goodwill or Salvation Army. It was the best thing to do at the time because no one in my family really sewed, except for my mom, but she really had all that she needed.
After she passed away, I went with my mom to help clean out a remaining storage unit of her old items, most of it cards and photographs. Somewhere in the mix, I found an old craft book and in there were three patterns. These remaining items felt like treasure to me, since so much of her stuff was gone, that these few things were all that remained.
The Advance 4692 ensemble is adorable, but I don’t think I’ll be making stuffed turtles or frogs anytime soon. :)
Look at these vintage crochet books and a Betty Crocker Party book that I found. How cute are these?!
While my grandmother’s passing was hard on the family for a variety of reasons, I don’t want to dwell on the negative or be angry anymore at the disease that she had. And as more time passes I feel so blessed that who I am is because of her, which was passed on to me by my own mother.
It makes me happy to know that it’s because of her that I am capable of working with my hands so well on all things crafty and that I can learn things quickly from books. My love of baking comes from her, as well as the need to always be busy every minute of the day (& loving it). I constantly have cold feet & hands, just like her. And lucky like she was, I have a husband who is always toasty warm and loves to warm them up for me.
So while I only have a few tangible items that belonged to my grandmother, I feel so lucky that I had a grandmother who gave me such wonderful genes that it doesn’t matter that she’s physically not hereanymore, because she passed who she was on to my mother, and on to me.
In: Sunday Stash
