MONTHLY MESSAGE from TRACY, KATE & MEG

April/May/June 2011 Message - Knit Together With Love

On April 1, our father died of Multiple Myeloma. As we prepared to say goodbye to the third member of our family of seven, we were easier with death and more present to the blessings of the sacred process that was happening before us. As I prayed for my Dad in those final weeks--watching his grace filled struggle with the finishing work of his life-–I kept hearing the angels and ancestors whispering, “don’t worry, we’re knitting his life back together with love.”

Three days before his death I spent a few hours alone with him. He was now drifting deeper into the invisible world--visiting out loud with loved ones that had gone before him. Watching with awe I was aware they were knitting him into the next world with love, as we held him close in this world with love. As I reflected on this thought he opened his eyes and turned to me with an unexpected question: “Did you ever learn to knit Trace?” I told him that his mother had taught me as a little girl. I asked him if she had ever taught him to knit. He said, “She tried once but I don’t think I had the patience--its tricky business knitting.”

Knitting, like life is tricky business. As Grandma taught me it takes close attention, practice, patience and presence to keep all the stitches in order. Grandma taught me that without those qualities it’s easy to drop a stitch or two or to end up with some messy rows. As humans it’s sometimes hard to maintain all those qualities in steady fashion over the course of a life. In a big Irish family, with lots of fire and passion, a stitch or two got dropped over the years, and there were a fair share of messes.

But in the end, the most important part of knitting is love. Without that fundamental ingredient knitting is just repetitious, tedious work and nothing of beauty can come of it. On the edges of life, if we are lucky, we find the presence and the patience to pay attention to the most important things. In the end our Dad worked hard to pick up all the dropped stitches, and to straighten the errant rows. His life was indeed knit together by love-–the broken places, the mixed up stories, the celebrations and the struggles, the joys and the sorrows--all came together in a legacy of love.

We wish you daily moments of attention, patience and presence, and a life knit together with love.

Blessings from the Sisters,
Tracy, Kate and Meg

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