The quilts arrived today in the post
Unwrapping, unfolding
I gaze tenderly upon mother’s creations
I press my eager nose to cloth and inhale deeply
The scent of her damp Vancouver Island home
The scent of dried lavender from her garden, bundled into sachets
The stitches even and sure
Hundreds of
Pale sea green patterned squares of cloth
Remnants from dresses she had sewn
For herself, I see her in them
Each fabric scrap squared and stitched together with perfection
Living memories flit past my eyelids
As my hand gently smooths over rows and rows
Of careful stitches
Each stitch a moment suspended in time
I press my nose into the bundled fabric again
My face buries in its soothing folds
I inhale again the scent of my mother’s life
Sighing deeply,
Blinking back tears, my heart weeps yet again
I miss her
