Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving already! When I look around me at the abundance of blessings there are to behold, I become overwhelmed. Truthfully I feel like the luckiest girl. I have a heart overflowing with thanks for many, many things. One thing I've learned about life is that it is ever-changing and when the time is right, you have to act NOW. Take advantage of what is standing in front of you! This Thanksgiving Eve I am thinking about how thankful I am for my friend Marian and how she encouraged me back in May to act now. Remember that quilt that's been a work in progress for 5 months? C'est fini!



I'll never forget how easy it was to catch Marian's enthusiasm and energy. She has given of her time, patience, love, materials... I can't get past what a wonderful, fun, hip, loving, honest person she is. The hours I spent with her will be in my heart forever! I was able to learn so much from her. I was thinking about times in our lives when we take as opposed to times in our lives when we give. How it alternates. In this situation it is very obvious that she's the giver and I'm the taker, but by observing what she's done for me she reminded me how important it is to take turns being the giver.



A couple of weeks back, we had gotten the quilt back from the quilter and Marian said she wanted to hand-bind it for me. She is incredible. I was in tears when I picked up the quilt. Not only do I feel it is one of the most beautiful creations ever (thanks to her), but it is the culmination of this friendship that developed between us. Several days later she was on my mind. I kept thinking about her and how I wanted to get a picture of her with me and the quilt we made. I called her to see if I could come over and she said, "Oh Alisa. I need to learn how to stick to my limitations." I said, "Oh no, you've been on my mind, what happened?" She said that she was at Ensign floral reaching up high for some ribbon and lost her balance and broke her wrist. My heart broke. To have a broken right wrist would mean she'd be kept from her passion for too long. And she had just completed our quilt. I couldn't believe it. I felt sick but I had to go see her. I said, "Will it be all right if I come over?" She said, "Oh Alisa, you can come over anytime. You're just one of my girls!" I love her! Jessie had just come into town and so she and Croz and I went over with the camera. She has this awesome marble slide that Croz loves to play with. He says, "Hey Marin, can I play with those marbles?" He did that while Jess and I visited with Marian and took out some of her masterpieces to document them. She is so talented. We had a lot of fun taking pictures and running our hands over her amazing quilts...



I think this is my favorite:



When I went to pick up my quilt from the quilter, I had to contain myself from squealing when I saw it. I love it dearly for so many reasons! It is just awesome that I get to keep it forever and be able to look at it and think of my dear friend Marian. I can pick out the units that she put together versus the ones I put together. She was a perfectionist about EVERYTHING. I can't wait for her to heal and then it's on to the next project... she even said so! By the way, I told her I might have to steal her painting above this bed in her house... I really have grown quite fond of it.



I feel like Marian is family now. I am so thankful for her and love love love her! Happy Thanksgiving to all!