Tuesday, May 14, 2013

A Gentle Spirit

  I'd like to tell you about Ruthanna.  Everyone who meets her wants to grow up to be just like her.  She is 87 years young and she continues to amaze all of her friends and family. A couple of years ago she had a knee replacement and since "that went so well" she had the other knee worked on this past winter.  She has no fears.  It would have taken me months to make that decision.  Not her, without hesitation she scheduled that surgery and was ready to go within a couple of weeks.  It was no big deal.  She just took care of business. 
 
  She was raised on a farm.  She married Jim and they raised their family on a farm.  She told me once that she was so happy to have lived that life.  She said she learned so much on the farm.  I think that must have been true.  She is as wise as any women I know, but in a quiet, unassuming way.
    
  Ruthanna has knitted for more years that I have lived on this earth, but I think the secret of her youth is the eagerness to learn something new and to ask for help if she needs it.  Here was a woman who could knit and crochet circles around all of us and yet she often signed up for a class just to learn a new way of doing things.

  Her winning smile and quick wit won her many admirers in the yarn shop.  She was helpful and gentle with new folks who would wander in the store, making them feel quite at home.  She is an encourager and good knitting companion.

I always could count on her to pop in to see the latest shipments each week.  Nasty weather did not detour her...In fact, I always suspected that bad weather just made her antsy to get out and about. 

When I announced the closing of my shop she was gracious, but  I knew that she would surely miss the camaraderie she found at the cottage.  She came in several times a week to stock up on supplies and patterns for what she thought might be a fiber drought.   She thanked me and others for always "being so nice".  But here's the thing...she treated everyone with consideration.  I can not imagine one mean spirited bone in her body.  She seems to find the best in everyone and isn't afraid to tell them so .

Lucky are we that have come to know this charming woman...and is it any wonder so many aspire to be just like her? 
I will check in on her.  She came to love Baby Twist and bought several large hanks.  She said she couldn't help herself.  I understand that and  I imagine she will have them worked up into quite a masterpiece. 

My sincere wish is that you have someone just like Ruthanna in your life ~

Cathi
 




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