Remembering

It is Memorial Day weekend. I have the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend blocked out on my calendar every year, as it has been since 2009, for Woolapalooza (aka The Great Lakes Fiber Show). This year, like so many other things in the last 10 weeks, the event has been cancelled. 

Today there will be no carpooling to Wooster, no group trips to sketchy, fairground bathrooms and no trudging through a wet parking lawn. No shopping until we drop...no fondling yarn from a truck or our favorite dyers. No fair food with friends or sitting in a circle in the sun to knit and share lunch while we decide which booths and stands we "absolutely have to go back to."

Yes, today is a sad day in my knitting community.

Today is sad to me for another reason too. 

My dear church community bid farewell this afternoon to a brother who has gone home to the Lord far too soon for our liking. We wished the family well from afar at a Drive-In Funeral Service, and we celebrated the life of a man who loved people well. I will miss him, and our chats in the office and the barn, and I will pray for his family's comfort and peace as they process their grief and loss. I will always remember Jim fondly.

On Memorial Day, we also remember those who gave their lives for our freedom. This year, and for many years to come I think, we will also remember how it felt to lose a bit of that freedom to pandemic fear that brought changes to most of the world...wash your hands, use sanitizer, stay at home, wear a mask, follow the arrows at the grocery store, no hugs or handshakes, stay away from people. Yes, we are living a different life right now.

But please remember... 

We are still free to express our beliefs openly. Even if our church/organization is not ready (or we are not ready) to gather in large numbers for corporate worship/socializing, every member of our community is free to hold and speak plainly his/her opinions.

We are still free to love each other well. Even while we are observing more physical distancing (not hugging friends that we meet and extended family members who do not live with us) we can be generous with kind words and smiles from behind our masks.

We are still free to be who we are. Even when we cannot gather in-person with like-minded friends in groups larger than 10 (or 50, or 100) to socialize or shop or celebrate, we can use our phones to talk, text, video chat, zoom and email with all of our personality all over the place.

We are even still free to disagree. I know that you and I will never agree on everything, and that is ok. But we can still respect each other and be kind when we do disagree, and though we may never be "besties," we can certainly exist together in peace.

So, let us remember to be kind, friends. Life is short, shorter for some than for others, as I was reminded again this week. Live and love well while you are here, and think about what happens when you are not. None of us knows for sure when that last breath will come.

Thank you Jim, for a life well lived, in service to your Savior. We could all learn a lesson from a life like yours, even if it was too short. 

Sorry if my post is not as cheery as usual, friends. I am still finding great joy in the Lord (and in a little yarn therapy), but today I am just going to let myself feel the grief for awhile. I will also knit.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope that you will also find joy and Knit in Good Health.