A Crochet Tale

Yesterday was a long day.  My husband and I found my Mom unconscious when we went for our regular Sunday visit.  It took several minutes to revive her, which was very scary.  We called for emergency help and she was promptly taken to the hospital.  My Dad and I spent about 3 hours in the Emergency Room waiting area  before  they had an available room in the ER.  My Mother is being held for observation and some testing.  She has done this before, but never been out for this long.  As you have read before my Mother is failing, slowly, and this is so hard to watch.   I really thought she had had a massive stroke, thankfully that didn't happen.  She was back to her ornery self in the ER, wanting food and not being happy that she had to stay in the hospital over night.

So while I was in the waiting area I pulled out some yarn and rolled it into a ball.  I took out the only crochet hook I had in my bag and started to crochet another cowl.  Since the hook was a J size I couldn't double my yarn, so I just kept holding the chain up to my neck to measure.  My Dad was walking around, or pacing as he likes to do so the chair next to me was free.  After several minutes a lovely older man sat next to me.  He asked if I was crocheting or knitting, so I told him crocheting.  He asked which one I thought was easier and I told him that I really didn't know as they can both be easy or difficult depending on the project.  He told me his wife knits and just finished a baby sweater.  He has been married for 63 years, she finishes his thoughts and his sentences.  Isn't that lovely?  He was waiting to hear how his wife's brother was doing, they brought him in for severe back pain.  We chatted away, he has two boys, both married.  The oldest has adopted nine special needs children.  Amazing. We chatted until the room opened up for my Mom and we were allowed to go sit with her.

I love how knitting or crochet draws people to you.  I was calmer with the yarn in my hands and he was able to open up a conversation with me because we had a common ground to start on.  I think that when you have yarn in your hands people feel free to ask you about your project, or tell you they learned to knit or crochet when they were young.  I have had so many people tell me that their Grandmother used to knit or crochet, and they seem to have a good memory about it.  Others say they could never do it but when you demonstrate how easy it is you may have made them interested enough to eventually give it a try.  You are much more approachable because you are doing something that others are familiar with even if they have never held needles or a hook. 

I hope I made this lovely older man's time in the waiting room a little bit more tolerable.  I know he made mine better, to hear about his life was a gift he gave me.