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By: Jim Fitzpatrick |
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Email: jim@nunica.com |
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Local Farmer in Polkton Township writes for the Coopersville Observer. |
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Along Brandy Creek By Jim Fitzpatrick
The Coopersville Observer January 30, 2012- - No. 119 |
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Grandma’s three quarter size Singer Model 99-13 sewing machine has been perched up there on the top shelf of the storage rack down in the basement ever since the house was built in the autumn of 1990. Her son borrowed it, several years before she died, to patch up some well worn work pants that he wanted to get a few more miles out of. He never took it back to her. She told him, “just keep it, I don’t sew anymore anyway”.
The other day, years having passed, he got it down from the shelf again to sew up the holes in the pockets of a favorite pair of old coveralls. The kids, both Will and Anne, including Mom Cindy, thought it a bit odd to see the dad at the kitchen table awkwardly sewing away with Grandma’s old antique portable machine. No one had ever seen it out of its bent wood cherry wood carrying case. The gold letters and black enameled steel glistened in the early morning snow reflected sunlight. Involved in the business of sewing; he nonchalantly carried on about how Grandma, his mom, use to do such very pleasing looking patch work on the knees of his and his brothers well worn blue jeans. In his mind the work made them almost as good as new again. Patches on the other kids clothing at school, he said, were never done as well or looked as professional as that of his mom’s handiwork. He knew his mom did it better. If he could find a pair of those old patched jeans up in the attic over at the old farmhouse he would cut out one of the patches and have it framed to hang on the wall.
The kids and the wife at this point truly thought that the dad had gone just as little too far. One of them was even so rude as to say; “Dad, why don’t you just forget this patching business and that old sewing machine and go down to TSC and get some new work cloths. With that he packed up the old machine and returned it to the basement. Next time, if he did any sewing again at all, he’d make sure that no one was around when he did his work. If only Grandma was still alive; she surely would approve of his efforts. |
