Precious Treasured Memory

I am still feeling a bit under the weather, but to the point that as I spend time lying around on the bed, I get up from time to time to put things away or to rearrange things. I think that means I might be feeling a tad better?

As I was putting some things away in a dresser, my eye was drawn to a pretty mint green quilt neatly folded and placed inside.

When I was a little girl, I lived on Spring Street in Jamestown, New York. My family lived in the lower apartment, while Nicky and Albert lived upstairs. Nicky and Albert were childless, but oh, how they loved children!

I spent countless hours upstairs and chances were, were I not playing with my friends, I was visiting with Nicky and Albert.

Nicky loved to sew and every Christmas, I received a brand new pair of pajamas. One Christmas, however, my poor mother thought she might die of embarrassment as her little twitty upstart proclaimed she did not *want* pajamas for Christmas....Of course, there were countless other memories...going to the Vikings Lodge, (Albert was very Swedish) going to the bowling alley, and even going fishing late one night!

Sadly, (well sort of...in a sentimental way, I suppose) the house on Spring Street is no longer standing. It was torn down to make a parking lot for the grade school across the road. I attended that school from kindergarten until the end od second grade.

Nicky and Albert bought their first house when Albert was in his seventies! They had previously rented apartments. Albert lived to be ninety-two, and his caregiver the entire time when he grew weak and feeble, was Nicky.

We went to visit Nicky several years ago...I had not seen her in probably twenty years. She was so cordial and kind and it was as though I was still the little girl who lived downstairs. As we left her house that night, she handed me the beautiful quilt shown above.

The quilt features the birds of each US state. Each bird and the name of the state it represents is hand-embroidered. Nicky added the pretty mint green fabric in between as well as on the back. The quilt is hand quilted as well. What a treasure this is.

Nicky passed away just a few weeks ago at ninety-eight.

I really do need to find a place to properly display this precious treasure!