loss

Today was the deadline for the KAL for the Quince & Co. shawl. I struggled to finish because of a family tragedy, but in the end it became an important way to work through the grief. Being able to create with your hands is sometimes a real gift. I wrote the following paragraph when I posted the photo of the completed shawl. Forgive me for repeating it here, but it is important for me to remember these last weeks.

Last Tuesday my MIL suffered a massive stroke and passed away on Friday. In the summer, we live on an island in Georgian Bay – our cottage is next door to my inlaws and we are as you can imagine very close. While my husband and his sister stayed with their dad and kept vigil over her, I was here with my children and we are all heartbroken. This shawl kept my fingers busy and we watched episodes of Gilmour Girls to distract our minds. My daughter insisted I try to finish it when I didn’t think I would make the deadline of today for posting. I have no blocking supplies up here, but she said that Grandma would have wanted me to finish it to the best of my ability. She would have too, she’s the one who taught me to knit.

A good friend who had been visiting only the weekend before posted a sunset picture of the bay on FaceBook and really said it best. “Goodnight, Beautiful Bridget.”