When the Mad Stitcher picked up the ringing telephone she
found that Bo had answered the extension and Wilma was telling him that she and
Pam were coming up to visit on Thursday and they were going to bring the baby
for them to see. Also, Bo’s two sisters
would be joining us. He immediately said
that it was wonderful and that she would get a chance to see the “blanket” that
MS was making Pam. Before MS could
correct the information Wilma was ringing off with “See you Thursday.”
Normally this would not bother her, but today it did for
three reasons. Firstly: Wilma had informed them that they were coming without bothering to ask if it
were convenient. She had just assumed that MS and Bo would drop
everything else. Secondly: Since her accident, MS had a lot of trouble
doing certain jobs around the house and now that Bo couldn’t help her there
were just too many things that had been left undone. Now in the thirteen years that MS and Bo had
been married, Wilma had never seen her house in a mess and she wasn’t going to
start now. This meant that somehow, some
way, she had to clean the house.
Thirdly: This would cut into her
stitching time! Darn it!
On Wednesday morning the Mad Stitcher arose early and began
her chores, starting with the bathrooms.
She knew that she would be able to do everything but the floors. So she did something—then rested, did
something else—then rested. Repeat. Repeat.
Repeat. Repeat. This went on until lunchtime. She had managed to get the two primary baths
cleaned, but by this time she was in terrible pain. She took a short respite then began in the
kitchen. Just then Bo came in with that
mystified look on his face. It was time
for another scavenger hunt. “What are we
looking for today.” She asked? “Have you
seen my glasses?” he asked innocently.
Gently MS reached over and took the glasses from his shirt pocket and
handed them to him. “Thank you so much,”
he replied. “I love you.” Then went back to the family room. At least this one was easy she thought.
As she loaded the dishwasher and wiped down the counter
tops, tears began to stream down her face.
She hurt so badly and didn’t know how much more she could stand. She finished up in the kitchen and went to
sit down in her chair. She had to take a
break—just a short one. She had decided
she would close off the bedrooms and dare
anyone to go near them! She was sitting
there dreading to get up again when the doorbell rang. “Oh, God, she thought as Bo went to answer
the door. “What now”?
Her darling son came in and immediately went to the
refrigerator and fixed himself a sandwich.
They talked for a few minutes and Bo mentioned that Wilma was bring Jeb
to visit the next day. Then the most amazing thing happened. “Can I do anything to help.” asked
Jason. She could have cried. “You can clean the kitchen and bathroom
floors, if you have the time. I just
can’t do that.” “No problem.” Just like that her prayers were answered. He cleaned the floors, then began dusting and
cleaning the family room. Each time MS
began to get up, he would tell her to sit (as if she were a child!) Then he pulled out the vacuum and finished up
for her. When Jason got up to leave she
hugged him tightly and thanked him. He
kissed her lightly on the cheek and said, “Take it easy, Mom. You don’t have to do everything! I’m here for you.” As the door closed behind him, Bo asked, “Who
was that’?....Well, back to the real world.
The Mad Stitcher didn’t get any stitching done that
night. After dinner she got Bo settled in
for the night and suddenly realized just how tired she was. She laid down and promptly fell asleep. She dreamed for the first time in months. Sweet, Sweet dreams. If only….
Everyone began arriving and each one had to look at “Angel”. They commented on the lovely star sapphire linen and the gold braid. MS realized that she had done more than she had remembered. It would only take a couple of days more to finish except for the beading.
Wilma waited for Pam to leave the room before asking to see the afghan. She was talking about how wonderful it was that MS could stitch this for her and she knew that she would just be thrilled. So apparently she would be stitching a second afghan in time for Christmas! How did she find herself in these situations? To disclaim now would be out of the question. Oh, Bo, how could you do this to me?
The day went by very pleasantly and soon the guests took their leave. MS had found a private moment to discuss Bo’s condition with Wilma, but she wasn’t sure if Wilma really understood just how bad he was getting. She gave lip-service, but….well. MS continued to stitch on “Angel.” She decided to work on it the next day while she was deciding on the next stocking design.
She finally chose the Nativity scene for Mary. It was model stitched on a piece of light
blue Aida and she knew she had a piece of this fabric in her stash. The Mad Stitcher really didn’t like using
Aida anymore, but she still had quite a bit of it and needed to use it up. This stocking would be perfect on the piece
she had. She pulled all the floss and
metallics and began to stitch. She
didn’t take time to do a working copy and found it very frustrating to work
from the hard back book in which the chart was found. She would stitch a few stitches, pick the
book up off the floor, find the page, look at the chart, stitch a few stitches,
pick the book up off the floor, find the page, look at the chart, and repeat….,
and repeat…, and repeat! She must
remember to get a copy made tomorrow!!
And while she was at it, she had better decide on the others so she
could copy them as well!
So back to the hunt.
She found a lovely Victorian design that she thought would work for her
Mom and a neat Santa with animals that she thought Michelle might like. So the next day, she went to the copy center
where copies were made for all of these and then to the LNS.
The Victorian design needed black. So she chose a beautiful black Lugana. Bo helped her choose the right *star* charm
for the Nativity scene and then wanted to go to the car. So MS gave him her keys and told him she
would be there in a few minutes. She was
still looking for a Dragon design and the LNS owner was helping her look
through catalogues. She decided on one
that Nancy was
going to have to order for her. So she
made her purchase and went to the car.
Bo was sitting there almost asleep with the doors open and as she got
in, she asked him for the keys. He
didn’t have them. “Oh, no!” she
thought. She began to look
everywhere. Even Nancy and Carol came
out to help look. They looked in the
car. They searched the area around the
car. Carol even walked all around the
outside of the shop to see if he had walked around and dropped them somewhere. They were nowhere to be found. What was she going to do? She didn’t have a spare with her and there
was no one to call to bring her one. She
sat down behind the wheel and was about to give up and call the locksmith. Bo was sitting there contritely—upset that he
had done something wrong yet again, but not really knowing what it was. She decided to take one more look around the
inside of the car. She glanced in Bo’s
direction and noticed something red on his ankle. She reached over and found her red key case
hanging out of his sock!! She couldn’t
help but laugh even as tears ran down her face.
As she pulled out of the drive she glanced at Bo and whispered, “I love
you.”
“Did you get that Lagoon cloth,” Bo asked innocently? MS laughed and suddenly all was well
again. How could you be upset with
someone so sweet? She patted his
hand. “Yes,” she answered. “I got everything.”
The design began to develop beautifully, but MS wished she
had done it on that lovely evening blue Murano that she had in her stash. It would have been ideal for this. She stitched madly and the more she stitched
the more she questioned. Maybe I
should….
The Mad Stitcher worked furiously. The faster she stitched the more she began to
wonder what she had gotten herself into.
Also, that Evening Blue Murano was calling her by name. Maybe she should start over and do this Nativity
on it. But no, she had it more than half
finished. She couldn’t start over. But, you know, this scene would be lovely
stitched on the Murano as a framed piece—for herself. Maybe, when these stockings were done. But no.
She still had the afghan to finish.
And of course, this would mean she would have to do something for her
grandson and his wife. “Oh, Lord, please
help me,” she prayed silently.
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