My DKos Quilt came in the mail! I don’t have the right words to express how I feel. I went a bit numb when I saw what it was at the Post Office.
It’s harder for me to receive and accept love than it should be I think. I could welcome it with open arms, but some part of me thinks if I open my arms my heart may fall out and break.
Front of Quilt Back of Quilt
I sent Sara this email:
I got it today! I just haven't found words to express what I feel or how exquisite the quilt is and how magical it feels. I first thought that this isn't at all like the soft fleecy type blankets I like. But the more I held it, the more my hands tingled. They still are tingling.
And I am such a kid sometimes. I actually opened it at the Post Office but not enough to see it just to know what it was. At home I spread it out on the couch and I clapped my hands because it has buttons. Who knew buttons could be so exciting?
I read each message once and I am just marveling at the craftsmanship. It's unlike nothing I have ever felt before and I have a Native American blanket and some blankets a friend brought me from Peru. Those have magic in them but nothing like this.
I thought too that this is too light to be warm, but it is VERY warm without being cumbersome. Really I am simply stunned. And Ann put a message in too. I was so touched to see that.
More after I nap under it.
Much love,
Tracy
P.S. Did you make the card that came with it? That too is beautiful.
Sara said it’s actually made from recycled soda pop bottles from this company, how cool is that? http://www.quiltersdreambatting.com/...
My dog Said ("Sigh – eed") seems to approve after inspecting the quilt closely..
Every detail of this quilt is done with such care and expertise. You can tell how lovingly it was made and packed. Even the card was beautiful (It came from Ojibwa's wife, Blue Heron)
The card from Blue Heron
The Quilt Tag (I love this part)
Cancer is a funny thing for me. It seems to be a very "mental" disease. I took the news that I have breast cancer as a death sentence. My doctors didn’t think I was taking it seriously enough because I didn’t want chemo or radiation. I told them that I think it means I’m going to die, how much more serious can I get?
I have had 2 surgeries but the docs want me to do chemo, radiation and a drug that is classified as a carcinogen (so while it may help breast cancer it’s been known to cause other kinds of cancer.)
I’m a bit picky about what goes in my body. I don’t drink tap water; I don’t take anti-biotics. Perhaps you’ve seen me in the vaccine diaries (though I try to stay out of them.) LOL! I like traditional medicine, the way it’s been practiced for thousands of years as opposed to allopathic medicine. It’s what fits with my life style and belief system. It’s what I think will save my life if anything can and it’s what I will be using to treat my cancer.
That has meant putting up with a lot of ridicule, condescending snootiness, and being bombarded with Republican like fear tactics to try to get me to do things the mainstream medical way.
I have finally settled, after much research, into a plan I am comfortable with. Acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbs, a diet that is much like a diabetics, plus eating only seasonal regional foods, and de-stressing my life. Yeah, tell that to B of A who is trying to foreclose on my house!
When I find myself crying in the grocery store I remind myself that I would be crying a whole lot more if I was doing chemo.
Patches from the Quilt
I am also finding myself in the unusual position of asking others for help and accepting offers of help. Not an easy task. I’m turning over all my mortgage paperwork to an attorney friend’s law firm. They have a real estate department that uses the same tactics on others that my bank is using on me, so while they are sleaze balls they will be MY sleaze balls.
I’m letting people do things for me which is not easy but I feel as if my head is being held under water while someone lights my toes on fire. I can’t think straight.
Statistically I have an 80% chance of being alive in 10 years. I’m doing what I can to improve those odds but I do feel like I have death hanging over my head.
One statistic that I get a chuckle out of is that of 100 women 80 are alive in 10 years, 16 have died of cancer and 4 died of something unrelated. I like to think that unrelated thing was being hit by a bus. As I live in Nashville with a really crappy public transportation system, my odds of getting hit by a bus are slim. This brings my survival odds up to 84%!
Hopefully I will follow the plan I’ve had for years which is to leave to be 98 and drop dead while mowing my lawn. However long I have I am so honored to have this quilt while I can.
P.S. If this looks right it means I did finally learn how to use photo bucket. Wow!