With Thanksgiving over, we started with our Christmas decorations. The first items to go up were the children's stockings.
My mother, Sara Hurdle, made these with needlepoint for the children. Ash's was given to him on his second or third Christmas. Lucy's took a little longer.
Mother had started on Lucy's stocking, but set it aside. When she was in the hospital for what turned out to be her final visit, she asked that her needlepoint project be brought to her. I remember seeing her work on it.
One day mother's friends Martha Carlisle and Lou Jones stopped by for a visit and asked Mother if there was anything they could do for her. She handed them the needlepoint and asked them to finish it. She said she just didn't have the energy.
So Lou and Martha finished the needlepoint and took it to wherever stockings are made. A couple of weeks after Mother's death Martha gave me the stocking, sharing with me the story behind it. I cried, of course.
Each year when I hang these stockings I can't help but think about a mother's love for her grandchildren and the bond of friendship that led Lou and Martha to finish Lucy's Christmas stocking.
And yes, every Christmas I cry.
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