Celebrating Madeline

I found this last week in a box - I had not stitched it, as by the time I finally got it painted, we were expecting her little sister, Julia. Then I got busy and never got them done. Finding this piece opened a floodgate of tears that I had held back since the accident last May that took her away from us, but I think she would prefer that we celebrate her instead of being sad today.

A grandchild is the most wonderful thing in the world - the reason we have children, I think. Total unconditional love, it has been, and I am so very grateful for the 13 bright, beautiful and happy years I had as Madeline's Granny. It was truly a gift! She was a delightful girl - intelligent, funny, naughty, beautiful - and having her in my life was like living in a high Renaissance drama sometimes. She was absolutely my clone, and was an artist, a poet, a needleworker, my apprentice, and aspired to be an archaeologist one day, and go with Granny to Jackson Hole to dig for fossils.

I am grateful too that she had wonderful parents, a good life, and lots of people to love her. Her memory brings many smiles to my heart - and I am reminded of a Scripture quote from long ago when I lost a childhood friend at a young age - "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."