The happiest birthday I ever cried about

Oh, what a wonderful birthday we had yesterday. We had a great plan. I finished sewing down the binding on the gift quilt friday night, gave that bit of white selvege another coat of brown pigma ink and put it in the wash and dry.

When it came out, I made a label and pinned it on and Rob came by and read it and said, "where did you get that spelling for LD's name?" She wrote it in a book and then she gave me the book. "Oh" and he ran for his laptop and I ran for that book. Both found, a new label had to be made. Quick. So, I got that pinned on and folded and rolled this up and we got out in plenty of time to all meet up in the parking lot of her apartment building and then we all tromped up at once and when she came to the door, there were 6 people standing there grinning at her.

She cried. We laughed and we hugged and we laughed. And, we talked and talked and met the most friendly cat in the whole world and I gave her this quilt.



When I handed her the bundle, she said "Oh, you got a new quilt?" and I said No, you got a new quilt. And, she cried. And, we unwrapped it and looked at it and I reminded her where the name The Palette in My Mind's Eye and she said "I said that?" And, she cried.



And, we took it into her bedroom and spread it on her bed and she said "I've been looking for a new bedspread" and I wished I'd added two more rows down the sides cuz it would have fit perfect. And, she showed us all around the apartment and told us the stories of the artwork and the things of a lifetime collecting.

Then, we went to lunch and she ate a good meal and she laughed and we laughed. My mentor was there and she and I sat at the end of the table and took a few minutes to catch up and talk quilting.

Then, we went back to LD's and she shared cuttings of all her plants with me. different and unusual plants that she grows and says are easy. We'll see about that. And, we visited until she started to look tired and then we came home.

I tried to work on the feathered star baby quilt, but everything I've done has been wrong or difficult, so I've put that aside and I'm going to play with my dresden plates.

I did spend all day working on my white featherweight. I've gotten all the last settings set, and reset the timing and adjusted a screw here and an angle there and it si working wonderfully. It's a bit louder than I wish, but my black one is a little louder than I expected, too.

And, I've cried. I can't even and am not trying to stop myself. Too much bad news all at once.

But, my girl. OMG, I have never been so proud of my girl. Rob was the next youngest person there, so I got to see how she interacts with adults. She has trouble tellings stories that adults that aren't around kids all the time could understand, full of drama and "I, like, uh..." But, she listened and she participated and she never looked bored and she answered questions and she shared her thoughts and she told funny and appropriate stories about me. And, she made me proud.

We watched the movie Hope Floats tonight. The line near the end is

“...momma...says....beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts the most. Try to remember that when you find yourself at a new beginning. Just give hope a chance to float up. And it will…”

My fourth blessing is I am glad I am who I am.

Lane