To-do List and Thoughts

I have been waiting patiently (mostly) to hear back from the grandson of one of the POWs that had written to my grandparents, Phillip & Katie Schleich.  He has written twice that he needed to process the fact that Gotthart Hauswold had written, but also that there were two other letters on his behalf... He was still processing the idea that the letters had been saved and still exist 76 years later.

I read an Easter devotion that had a fictitious conversation between a few of Jesus' disciples after the resurrection...

I struggle to take this in, but eventually ask, “How is that even possible?”

“I don’t know,” my friend admits. Then she grins. “But isn’t it incredible?!”

I try to process. Silence… thoughtfulness… hope… doubt… fear… hope again… questions… anger… unbelief… hope again…

And belief? Maybe. But definitely lots of questions. 

While the situation with Uwe discovering a connection his grandfather (whom he had only met one time in his life) is completely different from the devotion, he has questions, and perhaps some disbelief that the letters exist... but mostly questions.  And most of those questions are probably not something I can answer... rather they need to be answered by other family members.  For this I pray... that he would find the answers to the questions he has. 

Uwe did send me a couple photos of his family and, as his wife had stated in her original comment, I too see a slight resemblance of his grandfather that has carried through a few more generations.

As I was getting ready to print the Pieces From the Past book, I had made arrangements with a friend to take some photos near where she lived, which was in the small town that the Schleich farm had been and where the POWs would have been transported to when they worked at the farm.  When I shared a few of the edited photos with my grandparents overlaid on the photos with her, she had commented that she saw a family resemblance to Katie.  

I had never really thought that I might look like her.  For most of my life I have been told that I look like my Mom.  My Mom and I disagree and say that I look more like my Dad and in all these years I only heard that one time.  Not that I don't want to look like my Mom... that's not it at all.  It's just that, well, genes are fascinating.

So, as I await further communication with my new pen pal, I will be in the studio...  but first let me tell you what I got in the mail on Saturday!

I received my proof copy of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail book.  It looks as fabulous as I had hoped but will take a few days to read through it one last time to try to catch any corrections that were overlooked before placing an order for 50 copies.  Because I have included both the stories and patterns, I have removed the tab and stories here on the blog, with the exception of the introductory post and a photo of the finished quilt.  To encourage anyone who is interested in more of Marion's life stories and the block patterns to purchase the book, a direct link to make the purchase will be included.  

All of this techy stuff takes time, so the only items on my to-do list week in the quilty realm of things are:

❧ Quilt the slick and slippery customer's quilt (#7/8)

❧ Make this week's mini-quilt challenge (#15/52)

BTW, did you see that I have a birthday coming up???  AND that I'm celebrating by giving away a few gifts?  To be entered into the contest, leave a comment on this post, or on the original post (by following the link above) telling me which one of these mug rugs you would select if picked as the winner (sorry, but only US mailing addresses).

Keep Piecing,

Melva

Linking with:

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese 

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Free-Motion Mavericks at Quilting & Learning

Thankful Thursday at Brian's Home

Little Things Thursday at Good Random Fun

Senior Salon Pit Stop at Esma Salon

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