"My life is but a weaving between my God and me,
I do not choose the colors; he works so steadily.
Oft times He weaves in sorrow and I in foolish pride,
Forget He sees the upper and me the underside.
Not till the loom is silent and shuttles cease to fly,
Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why.
The dark threads are as needful in the weaver's skillful hand,
As the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned"
-Author Unknown
When I think about my grandmother, the main things that come to mind are artistry, wanderlust and learning. Anybody who knows my Grandmother knows that she was a skilled knitter. When I began thinking about her legacy the theme that began forming in my mind was one of a tapestry. I am a knitter as well and one of the things that I like about it is that you are creating something useful and sometimes beautiful out of a series of knots. It takes a certain amount of steady tension, attention to detail and sometimes monotony to create a finished product. I have become quite good at this but anybody who has ever created an intricate pattern with knitting needles knows that the backside of your creation is a complete mess especially when you are beginning.
My grandmother could create an intricate pattern with very little chaos on the backside and that is very much how she travelled through life. Her life was a pattern that was weaved across two continents with the seemingly chance meeting of my Grandfather at Covent Gardens. It was a pattern that was weaved with many adventures, travels, books, learning and teaching.
My Grandmother's knitting talents even survived the 1980's which was not an easy task. Bill Cosby sweaters, mohair, sequins, it was a dark and perilous time in the knitting world. In the early '80's Princess Diana rocked a Peruvian sweater complete with no less than 9 changes of color, a multitude of stripes, little villagers and llamas. You may or may not remember that this sweater became all the rage. I mean Princess Di wore it! They were expensive. My Grandmother knit this most complicated pattern that was not to be believed and the backside looked almost as beautiful as the front.
If you have ever travelled with my Grandmother you would know that this intricate weaving of her life also extended into her downtime. There was hardly ever any misadventure on a trip with my Grandmother. Things hardly ever went awry because the plans were always made in advance to promote optimal learning and enjoyment. I do remember one slight misstep on a trip to Paris with Audrey and Grandma. In searching for the subway we ended up on a tour of the sewers. Forging on valiantly, always several steps behind Audrey and I followed like the dutiful soldiers we were. We figured she knew what she was doing since she always seemed to know everything about the places she travelled, as though she had herself made the maps of the city. But even through this rare detour we learned a lot about the history of Paris. Audrey of course loved to retell this story!
My style of learning was largely shaped by my Grandmother. When I think about how she learned and experimented life I think it was largely through keen powers of observation. She noticed things about people and places that most did not. One of the things that I did not inherit from her was her attention to detail especially in the matters of grammar. Oft times thank you notes and letters from camp were sent back with spelling and grammar corrections. But she always included news of her latest adventures as well.
Ever searching, a restless heart that never let her mind be idle, it was a constant passing of the shuttles, a skillful series of knots and sometimes untangling of a mess that created order out of randomness. A tapestry that we can view now in it's entirety as God has always seen it, a delicate weaving of truth, integrity and wisdom that is ours now to enjoy and ponder in our hearts.
