I've always had superlative thoughts for my friend Heather, and I think of her a lot, because I want to be like her. She and I were roommates in the one household I lived in between college and marriage. We got married within 6 months of each other, she had children first, and we started our family a few years later. She made a beautiful home for her family - a wonderful log cabin along the dividing line between a hardwood forest and a meadow.
She created a whimsical home for her children, and the most comfortable, hospitable place for anyone who visited. Her home was full of life, cheerfulness, and warm practicality. Her home might not have been perfectly clean or perfectly decorated - but it was perfect. Many many people felt they could stop by anytime and sit and chat, letting the kids play their hearts out in the forest or meadow. Another friend referred to Heather's home as the place where all our children wanted to live, and it's true! Additionally, their home was built on solid principles, and was paid for.
She and her husband eagerly hosted gatherings: Bible studies, prayer times, and for holiday dinners, anyone was welcome at their home. She was over-the-top in celebrating holidays with friends and families. They made themselves family to those who didn't have family of their own. They offered their full basement to college students, singles, couples, and families when anyone had fallen on hard times and needed a place to live as they got back on their feet. Hundreds of people have many important memories that were made in their home.
Last Friday in the middle of the night, their beautiful home full of so many loving memories burned to the ground. Everyone - Heather and David, their two children, and the newlywed couple living in the basement - made it out alive, with only the clothes they'd been sleeping in. I can't imagine the terror, the fear, the trauma of that experience. And then to be left - with literally nothing: no keys to their cars, no wallets, no photos or toothbrushes or Christmas ornaments or shoes or clothes or... anything at all. The next day all that remained were the basement walls, the chimney, and a flat pile of ashes covered by gnarled pieces of metal roofing.
There's lots of thoughts and tears and prayers I'll have over this for quite awhile. One of the first thoughts being, how fast can I make a quilt and get it to her. How fast can I give her something beautiful that she can be sentimental about - something that might be valuable in keeping her warm and in decorating her future rebuilt home, and something that she can own and hold and feel love from? Today I ordered fabric for this quilt, so happy to have found the perfect line with deer and squirrels and foxes (Timber & Leaf by Sarah Watts) and all the things that brought rustic whimsy to her original home. It was, however, the most stressful fabric order I've made - I could have ordered three times as many prints, but had to pare it down. I just want her to have everything beautiful that she can possibly have right now.
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