I belong to a hand knitting group that meets once a week over the fall and winter months at a local coffee shop. We've been meeting for several years, sometimes doing group projects, sometimes each working on our thing. There is a core group, and others come and go. Everyone is welcome.
We always break over the summer, so last night was our first evening together since early June. We usually catch up on news and show off projects that we've finished over summer, but this time there was an air of sadness over our group as one of core members, MJ, had suddenly and unexpectedly passed away in July. One of her best friends is also a member of our group, and she pulled out a project from her bag and asked "Do you recognize this?" Right away we recognized it as a sweater that MJ had been working on as a Christmas present for her sister, a project that MJ's friend has lovingly taken over to finish.
I was reminded, at that moment, of a custom among those who serve in uniform (RCMP, firefighters, others) when one of their brothers or sisters in service passes away:
"Rest easy, MJ, we'll take it from here".
Nancy
