Sometimes you have a week that just stops you in your tracks, and makes you ask yourself… what really matters?
Monday morning I started thinking really hard about an old friend of mine. It seemed random at the time, but a couple hours later I got the message that she had died 24 hours earlier. I felt very close to her in that moment: I felt Kathy had somehow come to say good-bye.
Kathy, Bonnie and I worked together at Joseph Magnin's for one year, when we were all 19 years old. Before the year was up, Bonnie had died in a head-on car collision on a mountain road – from a drunk driver. Now Kathy is gone – her breast cancer had turned into bone cancer – her remission suddenly turned on her a couple weeks ago. She leaves behind 3 biological children and 7 adopted children from Russia and Eastern Europe.
So this month when we mail out our check to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, it will be sent in her name. However, every month when we send out those checks to our charity recipients, we know that there are unspoken names attached that represent our customers' loved ones. When you make a choice to support a charity, there is a story, and often a name attached to your choice.
I looked on Kathy's Facebook page to copy some photos of her, and there was no "portrait" photo with her alone. In every photo she was leaning in to hug another person in the image. In every single photo she was giving her love to another person.
She had found one of the basic truths in life – that true happiness is found by giving to others, by supporting others, and by focusing on others' needs. This is also what quilters do. They make quilts that comfort, heal and express love. We can see that so clearly in the large pile of comfort quilts that has arrived in our office in the last couple weeks, for the Fire Victims of Colorado. The stitches are just vibrating with love and care.
This last weekend we stopped at the Long Beach Quilt Festival on the way home from Hawaii. After visiting 2 elder relatives who were in the hospital in Honolulu, we were in a contemplative mood at the quilt show. I was thinking about the cycles of life – how we care for our children and our elders – and then the wheel turns and we ourselves are getting older.
This exquisitely detailed 3-D nature study by Holly Altman really reminded me of the Tides of Life…and how even as the Tide recedes, life flourishes in the changing waters. Holly's piece was hanging at the entry to the show, so if you attended the show I am sure it caught your eye.
Every day is a gift, and I thank Kathy today, for reminding me of that treasure. For an artist or creative person, every day is an opportunity to express beauty and truth, and heal a little piece of the world around us.
