Sophie's Story

   A few weeks ago I told my friend Dana that I had some time off work and wanted to have a "craft day". I wanted to shop for yarn and then go somewhere to knit, crochet etc.   We decided that Thursday would be a good day to spend together. We could go to Toastmasters, have some tea and then attend a Tai Chi class taught by a friend of ours. We would go buy yarn, do lunch and then return to her house to work on our projects. It was a good day for me.    Dana may not realize it, but she has taught me a couple of important things. One of them is that I am capable of being creative.   I never thought of myself as creative. Creative people can do magic. They can make something out of nothing. They can take a stray thought in their head and turn it into reality. I've always marveled at some of the creations I've seen from elaborate works of architecture to a simple electric circuit. At one point in time these things were nothing more than a thought in someone's hea

    I had been looking for something I could do with my wedding dress from 2004. Ever since I brought it back from the cleaners preserved and encased in a big white box, it has been sitting on a shelf of whatever dwelling we had at the time.    I don't like having items that cannot be used. I needed to find some use for the dress.    There were several options. I could give it to Goodwill. I could donate it to some organization that provides wedding dresses to women who can't afford them. I could just put it in a box and give it away. Somehow that route didn't appeal to me.     I couldn't figure out why. It wasn't the dress I wanted. I wanted something with a elbow length or at least a cap sleeve. I wanted it to be tea length or maybe have a handkerchief hem. I didn't want it to be one of those boufy, poufy things that make the bride look like a gigantic marshmallow. I dislike trying on clothes so there was only one dress buying expedition. I wound up getti

     At a party a few days ago a friend of mine called me his pen pal. I joked back and told him that I had saved copies of the letters we had written to each other. He mentioned that he would like to have copies of the letters. I later found out that was a serious request. Our email exchanges had covered a wide range of topics some of them causing him to ponder a bit.   I decided it would be a good idea for me to look over my file to see how many letters it contained. The first letter I had saved was written in April of 2010, nearly five years ago. The file contained 222 emails.   It was very clear to me that I would need to review each of the emails. Some of them would be parts of longer exchanges which I had also saved. Some of them would be small and trivial things like "When is the meeting next week?"    I had planned to take a few days and forward them to him. This plan was quickly abandoned. There were way too many letters to send in the space of a few days. I dec

   I always considered myself a patient person. I have been on hold with an insurance company for as long as 20 minutes. I have answered endless questions that people have about medications. I have picked up stray candy wrappers left by someone who shall remain nameless. I have continued to love a cat even though he ruined several pillows, a blanket and two rooms of carpeting because he wanted to "think outside his box".   I have waited, wondered and been lost with only a little vented frustration. I've been irritated, aggravated and downright furious and managed to hold my tongue. You must be patient with people. They don't know how they sound. They didn't mean what you thought they meant. Just be patient.   The past few weeks I learned that I'm not really patient at all. Those of you who have read this column will know that my knitting teacher and (now) adopted sister, Dana, decided to teach me how to crochet a granny square. I was excited to learn becau

   The only bright spot in a really bad workday a few days ago came when an elderly woman asked for help using our blood pressure monitor. This happens a few times a week because most older people have trouble using our higher tech monitor.   I stood by her and guided her though the process. When I was done I stated to walk toward the pharmacy when she said, "Thank you for being pleasant." I stopped and turned around.   "You smiled," She said, "Everyone else walks around with a grump on their face. It takes just as many muscles to smile as it does to frown."   "That's because I'm doing what I really like to do," I replied.    She nodded approvingly. The she looked at my left hand. "Is that your wedding ring?" she asked.    "Yes," I said with a touch of pride, "My husband designed it for me."   "Let me look at it," she said.    I walked back over to her and extended my left hand so she could

   I think I've been watching the Doug Flutie episode of "A Football Life" way too much. I can't seem to help it though. There isn't a whole lot that is uplifting or even appropriate on television these days. After listening to scandals involving atheletes behaving badly watching an hour program about the life of someone who isn't in any kind of trouble is refreshing.   The last time I watched it, I started pondering on the end of the program. The end of his program focuses on his life after football. It also highlights his view on life. I can't find the exact quote, but it has to do with looking at the hand you've been dealt and then moving forward. A writer that was interviewed in that last segment mentioned that when you don't have something, in this case height, you have to find a way to get things done. It means doing things in a new creative way.   One thing Doug Flutie had to deal with his entire professional life as a football player

  I follow a knitting page on Facebook. A few days ago they posed an interesting question. If you had all the yarn in the world what would you knit and why?   I looked at some of the comments. There were over 200 0f them. Some of them were variations on "you mean I don't have all the yarn in the world?" and "I will have to get more" or "My husband thinks I already have all the yarn in the world." Some of them said that lack of yarn isn't a problem, lack of time is.   The vast majority of them were knitters who would knit things for others One woman said she would continue to make prayer shawls for the hospital that took care of her while she had cancer. Another would knit prayer shawls for those who take care of quadriplegics. Several knitters would make baby clothes for infants in neonatal intensive care units and memory blankets for the families of the children who have passed away.   Veterans would be recipients of many knitted objects. Bla

  Every year I write a column around New Years about clean slates, fresh starts and how much I like them. This year I decided to do something different. I asked each member of our family about something they liked in 2014. I want to share with you what they told me.   I'll start with C. C said that his favourite thing about 2014 was the trips that we took. He especially liked the trips we took to Milwaukee and Chicago in April and the getaway weekend we spent in Chicago in July.   What he liked most was the visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden. We went there twice. Once in April when nothing was growing or blooming. C managed to get lots of neat pictures especially of their extensive Japanese garden. This garden is spread over three island in a large lake located in the middle of the garden. You can walk on two of the islands. The third is just for viewing at a distance. Even with the sparse April  growth, you could feel the potential of the garden and imagine what it would be l