My Epitaph

A while ago a friend of mine talked about an article she and her husband had read. The premise of the article was to summarize your life in 6 short words. It could be a memoir or a succinct epitaph. We talked and laughed about many versions that would work depending on the timing. She and I came up with quite a few good ones that day. Most were situational: she thought she'd be skinny again, she loved really good dark chocolate and she'll never know the story's ending. Some were more serious.

That conversation has stayed with me over time. I often go back and think about how I would summarize my life. What is the overall theme? How will I be remembered? I always go back to the same one I came up with that day:

She always had really good intentions.

I always plan to be on time, mail gifts before the actual date of the event, do more things with my children, eat healthy, exercise, smile more, yell less, etc, etc. Each day I have great intentions, and by the end of it all, most have fallen to the side.

Fortunately I don't forget about those good intentions, and I often roll them over to the next day. After enough days, they do actually happen. Today was one of those days. I finally made good on two birthday gifts that were very belated.

My niece had a birthday a bit ago. Okay, it was in April -- early April. I promised to make her a sling for her baby doll. I kept intending to make it. I even told Dave that I HAD to sew today on several different occasions. Finally after a quick reprimand from my niece, I made her present today. I hurriedly had Dave take it to her when he took Aine on a date. My niece was so pleased. She called to thank me and, so I am now off her list of bad aunties!

My niece Kailana

The second gift took a bit longer to make, but it wasn't quite as overdue. I knew what I wanted to make after reading about the project on Jean's blog and looking at the tutorial. I had most of the materials on hand. I did need a bit more fabric, which I picked up weeks ago before my nephew's actual birthday. I truly planned on making and mailing the gift well before his big day. Luckily my good intention finally paid off. I sat down today and cut copious amounts of feathers for a set of dress-up wings. It is amazing how long it took just to cut the material. I assembled the wings quickly and without difficulty. Instead of seam binding I attached the wings together with black grosgrain ribbon. I also used the ribbon to finish the rough feather edges for a cleaner look. For the neck I sewed velcro onto a ribbon loop. I think they turned out pretty well. The package is now in the mail. I really hope he likes his new dress-up wings.