Did you ever hear somebody say something and you just knew there was so much more you had to know about it? Do you ever see an object and wish it could tell you all the stories it holds? Well, that's exactly what happened to me a couple of weeks ago in a brief moment.
She wore the sweater to work one day. I overheard her say she knitted it for her husband. He wore it when he went out to minister to folks in the winter time. I was afraid to ask more but I pushed past that fear and sat down with my co-worker to ask her about "the sweater" and the person she lovingly made it for.
He was her best friend and husband. She told me they did everything together. They spent many years traveling all over the United States spreading the gospel, often times in very cold places. They owned a fruit farm and spent many years working side-by-side, day after day. I got the sense they had a lot of fun together.
She had knitted him a different sweater than the one I saw her wearing that day at work. The first one was superior in its warmth but she explained he had given it away to a man he had been working with who had commented how much he liked it. Her husband took off the sweater and gave it to him.
A couple of years ago, he had to go in for surgery and the doctor discovered he had a disease that had laid dormant many years. He was sick for nearly three years before he died. When his life was nearing the end, she told me she opened the bible and read to him from Revelations. She told me she was there, holding his hand the moment he died and it was beautiful. She knows he is in heaven. He spoke of heaven before he died.
She only kept the sweater and his large collection of hats after he died. Whenever they would go into town to do business, he would negotiate having the merchant throw in a hat, saying "well gee, I bought all this stuff, the least you could do is throw in a hat". She laughed when she told me that. I imagine she was there when he got most of those hats and each of them would have a story to tell if hats could talk.
He was her second husband. She never expected to find her forever best friend. We agreed that not everyone does but we're really lucky when we do!
love, susan
That is a beautiful story Susan!! I missed it when it first came out and only saw it today. Your best ever!!!
ReplyDeleteKathy, I didn't post this one on my FB because I wanted the woman is knitted the sweater to read it first. I wanted to make sure I correctly represented what she told me. She told much so much more but it's harder than I thought to condense into a few paragraphs that people will read. I cried ALOT after our lunch-time talk.
DeleteThank you for always reading my posts ... it means a great deal to me!!