Her Mending Pile

I came across my grandmother's mending pile today. That may not seem very extraordinary, but it is - in light of the fact that that pile has been hidden in the same spot for 20 years.

I lost my grandmother the summer I turned 16. I was actually out of the country when she died suddenly. When I got off the plane, excited to share my travel tales with my family, there was no Mammaw. She had seen me off but wasn't there to see me home.

I found her mending pile today when I was cleaning my grandfather's back bedroom. This has happened before. Every now and then I'll run across a place in their home where time has stood still for the 20+ years my grandmother's been gone. The last circumstance took place a few years ago when I was cleaning up my grandfather's desk. As I sorted through layer after layer of paperwork, I eventually came to the bottom. On that layer, I found a neat, orderly section that had my grandmother written all over it - personal notes and things she had left there.

Today, I fell through time again in that back bedroom. Mammaw's sewing machine cabinet is in there, and I was standing on the little seat that goes with it to dust the walls. At one point, the top of the seat shifted, and I realized that the top of it lifts off. Underneath the lid was my grandmother's mending pile just as she had left it years ago. A set of thin curtains she needed to repair and an aviation patch to sew on my grandfather's jacket. But the one that did me in was the item on the very top of the pile - a blouse I remember her wearing. As I lovingly examined it, I saw where a button was missing - the reason it was on her mending pile. Tears came then, and I thanked God for the bittersweet reminder He gave me of her today.

I gently put the things back. They may not live there much longer - my grandfather's poor health will mean more changes. But I decided to let the mending pile stay - perhaps my mother or aunt will come upon the treasure some day soon and take their own trip through time.