50 years later

Today would have been my mom’s 95th birthday. She died in 2020, not from COVID, but from complications of Alzheimer’s.

Back in the day, I loved embroidery. Mom had a corner in her kitchen filled with potted plants and a big asparagus fern hanging from a very heavy coat tree. When I found this little embroidery kit, I thought, “This would be a great birthday gift for Mom!”

I also enjoyed macramé, so instead of stitching the wires that held the planter, I used a spiral square knot to give it an individualized, pretty effect.

Now look at the date. 50 years ago, this was a birthday present for my mom.

She hung it on the wall beside her telephone, and today it hangs on a wall beside my cookbooks.

Funny how an ordinary little craft project can become a time capsule. Fifty years later, it still holds a piece of Mom’s kitchen, her plants, and for me, the daughter who made it to celebrate her 45th birthday.