This quilt was a gift David and I received for our wedding.
The creator of this piece? My Grandma Johnson.
Grandma always had a room that was filled to the brim of fabric. She spent so much of her life sewing, hand-stitching, and creating countless pieces. She was the best back-scratcher and arm-scratcher. She was cuddly. She washed my hair in the kitchen sink with the dreamiest strawberry-scented shampoo every time I stayed the night at her house. She was incredibly generous and giving of her time and skills.
She initialed and dated everything she did. And taught my mom to do the same. And so I’ve always known that’s just what you do when you create something.
Recently as I was putting the quilt away after another one of the kids’ backyard picnics, I noticed her initials there in the corner that I haven’t noticed in a long time — and it hit me. My children, who use this quilt often, have no idea that their Great Grandma Johnson created this quilt. She passed away before any of our children were born. She’s not here to share her stories anymore. That’s my role. How is it possible that I’ve not thought to tell them?
Lately I have been so focused on the here + now that I’ve neglected focusing on the legacy that came before us. I so needed this reminder. I need to share old pictures with our kids more often, to tell them more stories about their heritage.
Appreciate the PAST. Make the most of the PRESENT. Live for the FUTURE.
I’m resolving to be better about actually showing my appreciation for the past by sharing those stories + pictures that we have. This is how we pass on the legacy of those who came before us. And all of this makes me even more grateful for my efforts in documenting life here + now. This is our legacy.
So important!!Especially when we share the great memories.It is so important and fun to know where we came from,and whether we know it or not,it helps us to create our future.I always try to remember with my own children,that you never know when you are actually creating what will be one of their memories.Make the most of each moment!
It’s interesting that you posted this. This morning, as I was getting up and getting my baby girl out of bed, I found myself thinking about my grandma. She died in 2009, over a year before I had my little girl. Grandma told the best stories about her childhood and her grandparents. I felt like I knew her grandparents, yet they died 30 – 40 years before I was born. (Even 10 – 20 years before my mom was born.) But I KNEW these people and what they were like, thanks to Grandma.
But I was thinking this morning, Grandma isn’t here to tell little H about her great-great-great grandparents. She’s not here to tell my cousins’ new babies either. Even if she was, she had dimentia when she passed, and thus really didn’t even remember those stories anymore. This made me think I should put out some of my genealogy research and compile some stories for everyone. I’m sure whatever I can’t remember, my mom, Uncle, and sister will remember.
So weird that you posted this.
So important Becky. The stories and influences of those who came before us are a big part of who we are today. When reading your post I also thought about my own grandmother darning socks. Who does that today? These are dying skills that should be passed on especially in this age. A good reminder to get off the computer and do some tactile crafts with your children on occasion.
And you can still use Project Life to do this. Mine is (going to be, as soon as I get some plain page protectors so I can put all the pieces in one album) a mixture of Project Life and 12×12 spreads, often with an 8-1/2 x 11 mounted on the 12×12 telling the story. The 12×12′s also give me a chance to scratch the creative itch.
I know exactly how you feel. My grandma, we call her Rufio as a nickname b/c her name is Ruth, is 84 and came to visit for a week. I made her sit down with my Mom and they wrote up 6 pages worth of stories and memories. I then got out my video camera and we recorded her telling those stories. I now have 12G of Rufio telling about her life that otherwise would have been gone with her when she died. I can show these to my daughter when she’s older and help her remember her Great-Grandma Ruth. I also learned a lot of things I didn’t know about her parents and their parents and got to see some really old pictures that now have so much meaning to me. SO IMPORTANT!
AWESOME!! My great aunt wrote a book from interviews she did with her mom. She photocopied and bound them, I love all the little everyday kind of stories in that book.
My 10 yr. old son just asked my dad the other day what tribe his great-great… grandfather belonged to. So that started the conversation. Thankfully, my dad has done a lot of geneaology research and could even produce a book that showed the name of my great-great-great grandfather. It’s so amazing how the past has brought us where we are today. I think about it a lot more now than ever before. Your grandma’s quilt is beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing.
My own Dad passed away before my wedding and my kids never got to meet him. I was recently doing up a Book on his life, and got going on the geneology a bit. Well! I hot the jackpot! I found a vein of gold. It has led me to discover the roots of my Dad’s family all the way back to the 1700′s and the story of their journey to North America. We had previously been stumped . . . WOW! I may even take a journey to the “old Country” next Spring to see the places first hand! It all started because I wanted to tell my kids about my Dad. Thanks for your post!
I remember reading a talk from an Especially for Youth conference some years ago that basically said, when we know our history, we know who and where we come from, and therefore we are less likely to do anything to break the family chain. There are so many ways to document a family’s history. My father’s mother was known in our family for her homemaking skills, so one year for a family reunion, we compiled a family cookbook. It included popular family recipes, recipes Grandma invented, other family recipes, and family recollections about Grandma’s cooking. I especially loved reading the stories from my dad and his siblings, and their spouses. So fascinating to get a glimpse into their growing up years, as well as the spouses’ perspectives on how things were done, food wise. I think a family’s culinary history is a really fun way of documenting a family’s history.
I’m signed up (again) for Lain Ehmann’s LOAD (LayOut A Day) in May. I was trying to find things I wanted to scrapbook. I too, scrapbook alot of everyday moments. This time around I decided to prepare and take a bunch of pictures of ‘things’ and scrapbook them. Things that mean stuff, things like your grandma’s quilt. Stuff in our house that has a story. Where it came from, why I like it.
I’ve wanted to do this since before I was married. I got married in 1983…. Maybe I need to use my One Little Word ACT by writing some of the stories. Thanks for reminding me.
My Dad passed away in March, luckily my kids are old enough to remember him, but they have cousins that will not remember Grandpa. We are really lucky that my Dads parents are still alive and we have tons of pictures with them. My only regret with my Dad is that I don’t have more pictures of my children and my Dad. It is amazing how crazy life gets and we don’t realize the things that we miss. I am trying to put stories of my Dad together for my children, so they will always be able to remember him and the influence that he had on their lives.
Amazing timing!! I was just working on my PL…a little behind, so I am trying to catch up. There were a few days…okay 2 weeks, that I wasn’t in the mood for taking pictures…just busy with other stuff. Some of what I was busy with was redoing my bedroom storage. I came across some of my older photos and decided to use them to fill in the empty spots of my weeks. I think it will add a great layer of reflection in my book.
After reading your post today, I think I will try and make this a regular component of my book. Adding pictures from the past, will keep the past alive…in my mind and my daughter’s when she looks at the PL albums.
I have hundreds of old photos in shoe boxes and crumbling albums that I realistically don’t think I will ever have time to scrap…this will give me a way to cherish those old photos without becoming overwhelmed by them. Thanks for the timely and meaningful post!!
Have a great weekend!
I’m a quilter, I love creating sweet quilts to pass on to my babies. I also sign and date all my quilts, hoping in the future, a loved one will remember how much they are loved.
This was a very sweet post…I love to appreciate our past, so many ladies had so much WONDERFUL talent that was left untold. I love that you are going to “show” the past things. So very nice, and I have such a appreciation for this. Happy Easter!!!
While I usually take a picture a day of something that is currently happening in our lives, there are some days when nothing much is going on. These are the days when I walk around the house looking for some treasure that I have hung on a wall, sitting in a corner or tucked in a drawer. I take photos of items that are special to me and tell the stories about them that I want my children to know.
I scrap and do the family tree so that my DD will always know about herself and her family, both past and present.
Beautiful quilt. Absolutely gorgeous!
Becky, my biggest wish is for your design team to improve the PL page protectors for next year. The top and bottom holes need to be bigger and oblong shaped (like We R Memory Keepers protectors). This will help turn the pages easier. Also, they need to be sturdier, as this year’s page protectors are rather flimsy.
A big thank you for listening!
Happy Resurrection Sunday!
Beautifully said. My grandparents and my father passed away years before I was married and had my daughter. What a nice reminder to tell her about them so that she can love their stories even though she never knew them. Happy Easter to you & your family!
I had a special quilt that was also given to me for a wedding gift. It had been pieced by my Great grandma, quilted by my grandma, given to my mom, then me, and I passed it on to my daughter-in-law at her bridal shower. I had been the proud owner for 36 years. To pass on the legacy I made a 2 page scrapbook layout to give with the quilt. It had pictures of each generation that had part in making the quilt special and a little bit about each woman. It also told about the history of quilts and the name of the pattern. Also the pattern. I poured my heart out in doing the research and making of the layout just as my ancesters had done in making the quilt. It was very dificult to part with both of them, but I know my “daughter” will cherish them as much as I did and will someday pass it one to yet another generation.
lovely, becky. i never ceases to amaze me that those little *reminders* come right at the right times. what a treasure. thank you so very much for sharing.
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This is just what our family needed. My children’s grandmother passed away just yesterday while I was at Archiver’s scrapbooking a few photos I’d taken of her last week in my Project Life kit. I’d like to write down the funny stories she shared with us, especially because my 8-year-old doesn’t recall them now as my teen does. But last night, I asked my 2nd grader if he thinks he’ll always remember Grandma. “Oh, yes, Mommy. I’ll remember. I promise.” I hope that my scrapbook journaling about Grandma Hall will help him keep that promise.
You know what I love…..that you actually use that quilt instead of making some “save it in the cedar chest” or “hang it on the wall” object. It was made with love and even if they don’t know the story or don’t quite remember it….that love is all over them!
I’m in Maggie’s group for English, so I’m going to add minor details to her point. Ishraq was telling us about the Mexican Revolution andJohanna made the observation that the author, Laura Esquivel used symbolism in the story that tied the book in…
Yes, I agree completely. After reading the post, I was about to comment saying something like that. However, it has all already been said. Anyway, great ideas everyone. I definitely agree with the Elena-Dia & Tita-Madero correlations. Pretty cool….
Dear David, What is this? There is only one Miss Becky A.Esquivel in this US, per Records and Google March 2012, and happens to be my name. Please clear this matter as soon as possible. I never met you. Very upset. Sincerely, Miss Becky A. Esquivel.