My Special Teacher~~~

My Dear Granny

I came across this photo-its a special one as she is standing next to me on my Wedding day!  It felt only right to crop this photo-because I wanted to let all of this special woman shine through as I share a few thoughts about her.

Granny was about Five feet tall, had hair down to her waist, but she wore a Wig for this picture! She wanted to look special for this wonderful day, probably working hard till the last minute to finish sewing her outfit!  She made everything-ranging from clothes, quilts, crochet work that held a special beauty and of course, Embroidery work.  It seems she always had a few words of Wisdom for me-One long ago day as we sat on her porch, me struggling away with my project-she took time to share with me,

  "This is something you Need to learn!  It will help you- When your Hands are busy, well your mind stays occupied on the work, taking all your worries away!"

During my years with Pain, I have worked on many different projects-enjoying them but none have brought me Granny's message-until I picked up Embroidery threads and started working on a long forgotten skill.  With each stitch I make, it feels as if She is looking over my shoulder, watching to see how many goofs I make in the stitches, I smile, making sure to correct my mistakes!

As a child I recall watching Granny braid her long hair, it was poetry in motion to see her taking one strand of hair, lay it over the other, making two Perfect Pig Tales of Hair to pin up!  She never allowed her hair to be cut-until one day came that changed her life forever.  Granny loved to travel with some women from church one day a week to visit church members who were sick and needed some friendly smiles.  They had just left a church member's home, all chattering away and disaster struck!  The lady who was driving forgot about a stop sign and the car was suddenly on a major highway, as another car hit them!  She was sitting in the backseat and the impact caused the door to fly off, sending Granny flying out of the car, and being slammed against an embankment!  

When I saw her in Intensive Care, the doctors told us the impact had broken many major bones in her body and they doubted she would make it through the night-if she did, there was no hope of her ever walking or driving again!  I prayed hard for Granny, recalling her tremendous determination and asking God to please help her-my prayers were heard, as she did recover-learning to walk again and yes-she was able to drive again!

Having this recent memory of Granny being in that accident-felt like someone had turned a Light Switch On for Me!  Long before I found myself in Chronic Pain with an injury I can't run from, God gave me this amazing Woman-allowing me a glimpse of Faith & Courage, helping me understand-No matter how bad it gets, "with God-all things are possible!"  

Granny suffered tremendous Pain after that accident-and she could also predict Rain coming-this brings a "Bitter Sweet Memory" to my heart.  Yet she never gave up-until the final insult from the Accident caught up with her-much needed blood given to her during the early days in Intensive Care came at a time long before Blood was ever fully tested, resulting in Hepatitis C staying with her and finally taking her life.

I thank God for my "Special Teacher" and with each Embroidery Stitch I make, my heart remembers this

amazing woman, and I know-"Keep your Mind Busy, before you know it, all your worries are gone!"

Thank you God-for my dear Granny.

This was my Joy Today-Remembering "Stitches of Love with Granny."

martha