Caroline and Alberta

For a while now I have been noticing that people in general are becoming cranky.  And rude.  And sometimes, downright mean.  Not everyone, but it is out there.  I no longer go out among the population.  But I live next door to a bar.  Used to be this neighborhood bar was kind of like the TV show "Cheers."  It was a rare Saturday night that I would hear a fight in the alley between my building and the bar.  I mostly heard folks talking and laughing and enjoying an adult beverage and the company of friends.  But now I can pretty much count on a ruckus in the street on a weekend.

Some of those who come into my apartment tell me about ornery people they have run across out in the world.  Say it is becoming more common.  Didn't used to be that way.

Enter Caroline and Alberta.

Caroline is a nurse.  A darned good one.  She has been taking care of my legs for several years.  She isn't just a nurse.  She is a friend.

Some time back her sister had a garage sale where she sold her excess fabric and lots of other stuff.  Caroline knows I sew.  She brought me three pieces of plaid flannel, each at least 3 yards long, plus a couple of other cotton pieces about the same size.

Alberta was my next-door neighbor in my building a few years ago.  She was a hard-working farm wife until her husband died.  She would stop in every now and then - not really often.  Or we would talk if we saw each other outside.  Under her rough exterior was a sense of humor and a heart of gold.

She showed up one afternoon, carrying a box about the size of a banker's box, filled with large denim yardages.  She knew I sewed, and she thought I might like to have the denim for a project.

Her remark as she sat by my kitchen table was, "I wanted to see you and I wanted you to have this fabric before I die."  

And because we had joked with each other in the past, I said, "Oh, Alberta.  You are too ornery to die any time soon."

Less than a week later she was carried down the stairs in a body bag.  I still miss her.

This past week while digging through some boxes I have stored, looking for I can't remember what, I ran across the flannel and denim.  Both are now cut into 7 inch squares.  I am in the process of sewing everything together to make two lightweight rag quilts.  I will post a picture when they are finished - maybe in a week or a little more.

And when I rest under the quilts, they will remind me of my nurse who is also my friend and of a friend since departed who had a rough exterior and a kind heart.

Would that people stop fussing at each other and go back to a world of friendships and kindness.  To a world where being offended wasn't like an occupation.  And a world where "woke" meant literally "not asleep."

Please.