Sister's Weekend



Arvilla (Mom), Dorothy, Phyllis (Sis), MaryAnn, Sister Rita


This past weekend my mother and her sisters got together from Thursday afternoon till Sunday morning.  These girls started this annual gathering 20 years ago.  There were seven girls in the family.  One passed away when she was 23 and another passed away since this annual gathering began. The youngest sister has Alzheimer's disease.  The sisters-in-law are also invited and the brothers and spouses join the girls for Saturday evening dinner.  They take turns hosting the event and do many different things.  This year my mother was the hostess.



 

    

                                 

During spring break her children gathered off and on over a 3 week period and helped her get ready for the gathering.  We painted the living room, painted the bathroom, and removed the old kitchen linoleum and Dad installed new industrial tile.  We helped her deep clean the kitchen, bathroom, and living room.  Mom bought herself a new chair since hers was falling apart.  Dad's chair was no better but he did not want to buy one but my sister found a lift chair for him and they brought it home the day the sisters were gathering. 

Dorothy, the youngest of the sisters, lives in Denver and before she became sick she used to make quilts for the homeless.  She has donated over 75 quilts and given at least another 25 to family and friends.  The girls are all avid sewers and quilters.  Mom thought it would be nice to make quilts for the homeless and send them back to Denver with Dorothy this year before she no longer knows what is going on.  The other girls were told of the idea and were fully on board.  Some made quilts, some made quilt tops to be tied or quilted, some brought out fabric to be made into quilts. 

  

Every year they have a show-n-tell evening to show what they have been working on during the past year.  They all do so many sewing and crafty things.  This year they showed all the quilts they brought out that were already finished and those that would be finished during the weekend.  It was amazing.  They had 33 finished quilts and quilt tops.  By the end of the weekend they sent 30 quilts with Dorothy and Frank to Denver for 2 different homeless shelters.  Sis took a couple home with her for a charity in Manhattan as well as a couple quilt tops to tie.  MaryAnn took a couple tops home to finish also.  Look at the pile of finished quilts they made.  The decision was made to continue to make quilts throughout the year and see what they can do by their next gathering.  These ladies are amazing. They are all beautiful seamstresses and quilters, and have huge hearts.

  I am blessed to have a mother and aunts that are such a good example to me of what family really is all about.  To come together as a unit and work together for good is only one way they have blessed the lives of our family and the lives of strangers alike.  I am grateful that I was able to spend some time with all of them over the weekend and watch them interact together.  I pray that one day my sisters and I will be able to do the same as my mother and her sisters.