It’s been a long time since I have posted anything on this blog. I have had other things on my plate: mostly work and caring for my elderly mother (pictured here). Although my children are grown, they are still on my mind, so feeling as if I was sandwiched between my immediate family – my sons and my husband – and my mother was the inspiration for this blog’s title, Knitting Between the Slices. The repetitive motion of knitting and the creation of each piece have helped to keep me calm through crises big and small.
Now one of the slices is gone. My mother’s health had been failing for the past year or so and on the Saturday before Mother’s Day she was taken to the hospital with pneumonia. Of course my knitting was in my tote bag in the car, so I had something to do while waiting for the diagnosis. My sister and niece had just arrived for the weekend, so my sister had her knitting, too. My niece was actually between projects, I think. My knitting got me through the week that followed, when she rallied briefly and then contracted a second pneumonia.
When my mom made the decision to refuse treatment, my sister returned so we could sit together in the hospital while our mother slipped away. My mom survived almost a week and, when we weren’t talking to our mom or the staff, we knitted. My sister actually finished several projects, while I started and frogged at least five different thing along the way. When we got the 4 AM call on May 24 to hurry to the hospital, we brought our knitting, thinking we would have time to knit and talk to our mother again, but she was gone by the time we arrived. Her passing was peaceful, and, although I will miss her terribly, I am glad to have been with her as her last wish was granted and I’m glad for the companionship of my sister and the knitting we share.
Now one of the slices is gone. My mother’s health had been failing for the past year or so and on the Saturday before Mother’s Day she was taken to the hospital with pneumonia. Of course my knitting was in my tote bag in the car, so I had something to do while waiting for the diagnosis. My sister and niece had just arrived for the weekend, so my sister had her knitting, too. My niece was actually between projects, I think. My knitting got me through the week that followed, when she rallied briefly and then contracted a second pneumonia.
When my mom made the decision to refuse treatment, my sister returned so we could sit together in the hospital while our mother slipped away. My mom survived almost a week and, when we weren’t talking to our mom or the staff, we knitted. My sister actually finished several projects, while I started and frogged at least five different thing along the way. When we got the 4 AM call on May 24 to hurry to the hospital, we brought our knitting, thinking we would have time to knit and talk to our mother again, but she was gone by the time we arrived. Her passing was peaceful, and, although I will miss her terribly, I am glad to have been with her as her last wish was granted and I’m glad for the companionship of my sister and the knitting we share.
