Open Thank You Note: Marie & the Sewing Lesson

Dear Marie,

It's been over a decade since you informed me that I needed to learn to sew, and I needed to start NOW and that you were going to show me how. I remember all those fun hours at your house when I would have otherwise been at home by myself feeling pregnant and needy. At the time, I didn't realize how many of your own projects and responsibilities you were putting aside to help me, and how much patience it must have taken. You did everything with so much humor and cheer, it masked the effort perfectly.

Now I know.

Thank you for showing me how to sew, and how to read a pattern, and how to knuckle down and get a project done. I took a semester of sewing in 8th grade, but it didn't stick (except the part where I sewed my finger).

The Marie lessons have definitely stuck.

And I think of you and your home and your children and your smile every time I supervise my girls making a doll pillow or sit down to "whip something together". Every Halloween costume and Easter dress and coordinating wedding vest that I have sewn over the last thirteen years stands as a monument to you and your talent and our friendship.

So you know, I am up to my eyeballs in coordinating wedding clothing right now, and coming up fast on the deadline. In my head, I am cracking jokes with you about all of it.

Thank you, Marie. Thank you for pushing me, for teaching me, and for laughing off all of my anxieties about failure and incompetence. Thank you for giving me confidence and friendship, and a skill I can give to my daughters and anyone else I can rook into it.

Love,
   Amber