More than a sewing lesson
By Bethany Emerson
Thursday afternoons were always my favorite growing up. I'd make sure my school assignments were done in time, brush my straight blonde hair and peek out the window just hoping to catch sight of the silver bumper of my Grandmother's car.
"She's here!" I'd run outside to greet Grandmommy. Thursday afternoons were our special dates together.
Grandmommy's car always smelled perfectly brand new, and today was no different. We chatted about school, clothes, my siblings or cousins on the drive to her house. Once we arrived, I went the special corner of the living room set up for our lessons. I'd pull out my sewing box and Grandmommy and I would delve in to simple patterns, beginning with her teaching me how to sew straight lines and building to sewn Christmas ornaments and on to the pair of shorts with bright pink strawberries that I wore proudly for many summers, my treasure from my times with Grandmommy.
After sewing lessons we'd sit on the couch and read books together, me reading one page and Grandmommy the next. We read Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter and others. I’d always be hunting for a good book to read with her.
When a chapter or two had been read, we’d go into the kitchen and I’d help Grandmommy make dinner. The meal was always well planned, balancing vegetables and salad with some type of starch and meat. My two favorites were her sweet and sour meatballs and her chicken divan and biscuits with honey. I’d cut up the vegetables and sprinkle them on top of the salads, always in individual bowls, while we talked about life.
As I look back on those afternoons together, I realize that I not only have good memories and the ability to stitch in straight lines and thread a bobbin, but the living example of a woman who trusts the Lord and loves her home. Grandmommy, always joyful being busy at home, has cooked and cleaned and made chores like folding laundry a joy. She even made teaching me how to making a bed without a wrinkle or crease a fun experience. She never complained about the many tasks of being a wife, mother, grandmother and now great-grandmother. Instead, she provided an example to me that being a homemaker is not second-rate to a career; it’s a full life of privilege and joy!
Grandmommy has taught me about trust in the Lord (and still does!). I’ve learned this from her through our many conversations as she’s always extremely real with me. During sewing lessons or afternoons together now, I know I can talk to her about anything. There are days when college projects are overwhelming and I call Grandmommy’s cell phone. She’s always encouraging and affirming of God’s strength as she tells me she has been praying for me. When my Mom was fighting cancer, Grandmommy ran our house, did the laundry, and was a mom to me and my four siblings in many ways with a peace that helped me to trust God. When my Granddad passed away in 2003 after 56 years of marriage to my Grandmom, she was grieved but had hope. She tells me continually of God’s faithfulness in their lives.
I walk away from every interaction – and memories of sewing lessons – encouraged because my Grandmother has lived a life of contented joy in an unchanging God, whether matching socks or threading needles. I am so grateful to God for my Grandmother, my friend!
