Sunday, September 06, 2015

memories

Memories are valuable.
They give us a sense of who we are.  They are true.
Those that recur and recur are told out loud and become legends.
So many others fade out and disappear.
Memories are valuable but they are also vulnerable.

This is why I believe in artifacts.
Maybe it is why I make quilts.
Because artifacts hold the memories for us.
I have my grandmother Anne Niskala's floor loom.
I have the portrait of my great grandparents in Finland.
But the memory those objects hold for me
is of my kind uncle Henry when he gave them to me.
He passed them on to me in 2011.

I felt his generosity, friendliness, and kindness.
I felt his love

and I remember that.
I'll always have that.
He wanted me to have them
and so I have that.

I began a new nine patch while traveling up to the funeral.
R.I.P. Henry Niskala 1929-2015

3 comments:

Margaret said...

Blessings and peace to you, Judy, on the death of your beloved uncle. The memories now will do what they do best: bring comfort.

Sujata Shah said...

Our quilts would be without a soul if it wasn't for all the stitched memories and emotions. Glad you have some things from your beloved uncle to evoke the past and make new memories. Hugs to you, Judy!

Montse Llamas said...

I only believe on the power or objects in regard to memories if they are given with love. I have some from my beloved grandmother that she wanted me to have an I love them.

On the other hand, I also have a sad story about it. About a sewing machine that the other grandmother had and never let me use, though I had not a sewing machine at all at this time, and was the only woman in the family who knew how to sew. When she died, I was asked if I wanted to keep it (because no none of my aunts or cousins had an idea of what to do with it). I couldn't accept it. Too sad for me.