Craft Therapy
After my mom died, my dad was blessed to meet and marry an amazing woman–Alice. They have the most precious love story and were married for 15 years. They were so good for each other. She was enough like Mom that our relationship was comfortable, but she was different enough to make it not weird.
In 2019 Dad suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and passed a few days later. Grief affects everyone differently. I grieved at the sewing machine. I took his shirts and made them into pillows for Alice, my siblings (by birth and by marriage), and his sisters. From the smaller pieces of fabric, I made ornaments for each of the children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. At first I thought maybe I was doing this to avoid grieving, but I’ve come to realize that it was my way of grieving.
It was my way of keeping his memory alive. To each person who received a pillow or an ornament, I was saying, “Don’t forget how much he loved you!”
After Christmas we brought Alice home with us to spend the week. We had the best visit filled with precious memories and lots of great conversations. She went home and within a week, she was graduated from this world.
Thank you, Alice, for loving my dad so well and for loving me, my brothers, our children, and my grandchildren like we were your own. You were truly a gift to our family.
Craft therapy is a perfectly acceptable way to grieve, but I really hope the next time I sit at the sewing machine it’s just for fun.
Sherri Suzewitz
What an incredibly wonderful tribute! Craft therapy is real! ❤️
Nana Jo
Yes, it is. Thank you, Sherri.
Marsha Kluemper
I loved your posts, the family info, the woodworking and the crafts. It’s been so long that I probably don’t know you or at least what you like now. Love you
Nana Jo
Thank you, miss you friend. Love you, too.