Grandma Cripe

This past month has been a whirlwind.  I never knew that so much emotion could be jam-packed into one little month!

Several recent deaths in our families have affected us.  My Grandma Cripe (Dad's Mom) passed away the week before Thanksgiving, and we attended her burial on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.  She was cremated, as she requested, and her ashes were taken to Garden City to be buried next to Grandpa.  The boys were well behaved during the short service, which was good since I was crying too much to be able to watch them fully.  Mike only had to take Oliver away once when he was getting squirmy.  The flowers were beautiful, the sun was shining, and I met some people who had known Grandma well and talked to me about what she was like in her younger years.

Grandma attended school in Bucklin, KS.  She went to Wichita Business School, worked at the Air Force Base in Garden City, got married to Grandpa, then worked as a seamstress and homemaker until 1971, when she went to work at Purnell's Fabric Store until 1990.  After she retired, she continued doing alterations for people.  I am reading this from the "In Remembrance" printout that was given to us at the burial.  It has a lovely picture of Grandma wearing her candy-apple-red eyeglasses, and a big red rose on the front.     

Talking with Grandma's old friends and relatives, and reading about Grandma, and also looking through the scrapbooks that she kept -- all of these things have inspired me to revive my sewing skills.  I know they are still lurking inside of me somewhere, possibly just waiting for a few lessons from my mom or Grandma Schwemmer (Mom's Mom), who are both excellent seamstresses as well and have taught me all I know about sewing.  It seems that sewing is a lost art, especially because it is less expensive to buy your clothes off the rack now than it is to make them.

I have a sewing machine that needs a new pressure foot.  I have some bits and pieces of fabric, and a few spools of thread.  Grandma left us some money that she said can be used for Christmas, and Mike told me that I can use it however I see fit.  So here is my plan.  I am going to use the money to buy supplies and sewing equipment, and then I will make some items to sell so that I can raise money for the sewing machine that I really want.  I would love to learn embroidery, so my goal is an embroidery & sewing machine.  I think that developing a skill that Grandma obviously possessed will honor her memory.