Carrying On A Legacy

My Great-Grandma O'Brien was a remarkable lady.  She lived to be 107, lived in her own home until she was 104, and got her licensed renewed for two years when she was 100.  How cool is that?!  She had a very strong Catholic faith and had been through a lot in her long life, including burying her husband and two of her sons.  She has been gone for several years now, but she has crept into my thoughts quite a bit this week.

One of the legacies Grandma O'Brien left behind was for the majority of her life she crotcheted baby hats for her local hospital.  I can remember visiting her the last couple years of her life when she was in a nursing home, and the whole bottom drawer of her dresser was full - and I mean full - of baby hats she had recently worked on.  She had passed on her crotcheting skills to my grandma, who had shown me as a kid how to crotchet also.  I'm not talking anything fancy here, mostly potholders because a basic square was about all I could handle!  However, several years ago I decided I wanted to carry on Grandma O'Brien's legacy and had my grandma show me how to crotchet baby hats so I could donate them to my hospital.  I made a couple dozen and donated them, and never touched a crotchet hook since.   I guess life just got in the way - planning a wedding, buying a house, trying to have a baby. 

The other night Jeff and I ended up having a really long, great conversation with our retired neighbors.  I found out she is involved with the "Preemie Project" for our local hospital.  They raise money for the NICU in various ways, and also make and collect donated hats, blankets, and booties for the preemies.  After talking with her something in my clicked and I thought "I need to start crotcheting baby hats again!"  So I went through our plastic totes that haven't been touched since we moved last year and dug out my crotcheting supplies and got back to work. 

I always say I want to do volunteer work, but never quite know what my niche is.  But I think this is the perfect thing for me.  It's time I start doing something positive towards becoming a better person. 

And while I was feeling very connected to my Grandma O'Brien this morning while crotcheting a little before I left for work, I said a little prayer to her, asking for her help in letting this be our takehome baby.