The news both shocked and devastated me. I slouched back in the couch and crossed my arms. Tears threatened to fall. “Why do they have to move Mom?” She sat down beside me and put her hand on my knee. “Honey, they’re only moving to a bigger house across town. Not halfway around the world.…
Category: Mama’s Patchwork
Living Through Fears
“Mommy, I had a bad dream,” I said as I climbed onto her bed. Dad groaned and rolled over. Mom sat up and put her arms around me. “It’s okay Darlene. It’s not real.” I sniffed. “But, it scared me.” She rubbed my back as if trying to remove the fear from my body. “It…
Wrestling
“Get ‘em! ” Doreen pounded her fist in the air. “Come on, you can take him!” Bert had surprised her with tickets to a wrestling match. She sat on the edge of her seat, knees jittering as she watched in anticipation of each of their moves. One wrestler shifted to his right and pulled the…
Mysteries
“Darlene Lynn, put that book down and get the vacuuming done,” Mom said. I sighed. “I hate cleaning,” I thought to myself. I was just getting to the good part and had to know what trouble Nancy and George were about to get into. Cleaning could wait for a few minutes. Nancy Drew couldn’t. “Now!”…
Tiddlywinks
I cried as Dad rocked me. “You’re going to be okay Tiddlywinks. Shhhh…” He held me tightly and kissed my forehead. Tiddlywinks. That was Dad’s special name for his baby girl. To this day, it gives me goose bumps. A name of endearment. The funny thing about the above story is I don’t remember Dad…
Bittersweet
“Where are we going?” I said as I sat in the front seat of the car. Jeff leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “It’s a secret.” “Secrets? I love secrets.” I giggled as Jeff pulled the car out of the driveway. It was Valentine’s Day and it had been perfect so far. We…
Simon Says
“Simon says touch your toes,” Murray said to the group of us playing the game. I reached down and touched my toes. “Simon says twirl around.” I obeyed. “Scratch your head.” I obeyed. “Darlene, you’re out! I didn’t say Simon says.” “Ahh, I did it again,” I said as I plunked myself down on the…
Scars
I held my foot as I sobbed. “Mommy, will it leave a scar?” “Maybe, but it will remind you never to do that again. Sometimes we have to learn through our scars.” My mom gently cleaned my wound and placed a band-aid on it. I felt instant relief from the hurt. My little world was…
Counting
I threw the piece on the floor. “I counted wrong again,” I said to my mom. “This is so frustrating. Why is it so important to count every stitch?” Mom put her cross-stitch piece down, picked up mine from the floor, and sat beside me. “It takes patience Darlene. You have to count each stitch…
Pieces
“Don’t throw those out,” Mom said. I looked at the different pieces of fabric in my hands. Triangles, rectangles, strips of different sizes and shapes. Leftovers from larger projects. Scraps, that’s all they were. Confused, I looked back at her. “But they’re useless,” I said. “Why keep them?” The sunlight from the window reflected on…
