My Greatest Creation

I have a dear friend who owns Muddy Creek Originals, a quilt shop in Portersville PA. She told me that as a quilter we should strive to create 13 quilts to keep for ourselves. One quilt for each month of the year and then one quilt that is our masterpiece. I like that idea a great deal but in thinking about this  I realize that I have already given birth to my masterpiece and in the end it has become a group effort, one that is not near finished, one that I may never see to completion but one that I can proudly say I have given birth to.

 

 

Twenty six years ago today I gave birth to Jennifer Nicole Kerry. I was not one who went into adulthood thinking I wanted to be a mother. I had just never really pondered the idea one way or the other I suppose. At least not until I had a miscarriage and then suddenly those Mommy hormones started at me and I wanted to experience Motherhood.

I have to admit that I knew the following morning that I was pregnant with Jenn. My body was suddenly different and I was so excited and so scared at the same time. Three different times during the pregnancy I had to do the bed rest thing as there was a chance of losing my baby. Years after another miscarriage and my second child Jessica was born I would often say that God protected Jenn from being miscarried because He knew just what kind of big sister Jessica was going to need and Jenn was the best big sis possible.

When we quilt makers begin a creation we have no idea really how we will breath life into our work. We may have ideas and a stash of fabrics to work from but it is the process that creates, the time and love and hands on labor that produce life. I have done the very best that I know how to mother Jenn into the beautiful young woman she has become. While I can not take all the credit I do know that the stitches and pieces of my life that have been sewn into her life can never be unsewn or unraveled totally and when Jenn shines there will be a part of that proud mother who gave her life showing through. This is one masterpiece that is not for me to complete but I am so blessed that I got to share in that birthing process and watch it take on a life of its own. Happy Birthday Jenn.