Celebrating Peggy's Life

The weatherman says this Saturday is going to be a beautiful day. The temperature will be near 70. The sun will be shining and those Spring flowers that haven’t already popped, most certainly will. These first days of Spring mean new growth, new hope, new life. However, this Saturday, the women of my small quilt group will cry.

Tangled Threads enjoying a weekend at the beach

Outside, we’ll still rejoice in the beauty of the day and we’ll greet each other with warm hugs and smiles. But inside, we’ll all be remembering someone whose absence we feel to the core of our souls. For we’ve lost one of us. Saturday is Peggy’s Memorial Service. Peggy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer almost 7 years ago. For 6.5 of those years, she fought it with everything she had. She endured surgery, radiation and countless varieties of chemo, and she struggled against the ravaging side effects each new treatment threw at her.

The Chemo Quilt we made for Peggy.

Each of us "dressed" our doll in the style that best suited our personality.

Still, she always had a smile on her face and a warm hug when she greeted us. Her first words when we got together were always to ask about our lives. Her parting words at the end of the night were always an “I love you all so much” and a kiss on the check for each of us.

About 6 weeks ago, we learned the cancer had advanced beyond all hope. Peggy made the decision to go on hospice. I think we all struggled with that decision, knowing that we were losing a dear, dear friend. And yet, we also knew how tired she was. She wanted her final days to be days spent simply loving her family and friends, free of pain and free of chemo.

She died March 1 at 4:15 in the afternoon, surrounded by her family.

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Christmas 2008

It’s hard to describe the closeness I feel toward the women of my quilt group. A few years back, I wrote an article about Tangled Threads for the HP quilting website. The following paragraphs were how I described our group then. Some 6 years later, it’s still spot on: When the women of Tangled Threads Quilt Group met for the first time back in the late 1980s, they were anxious and excited to meet others like them. Most were working mothers who had only a few hours each week to share their passion for quilting. Some 15 years later, the kids are grown, some members have retired, new members have joined, and other members have moved or just moved on. But a core group still meets every Tuesday night. Their conversations are richer now, and while quilting provides a reason for the meetings, more and more those two precious hours are consumed with laughter, tears, and tales of family, home and self. These women have seen each other through weddings and births, illnesses and deaths. They’ve vacationed together, celebrated individual achievements, and gently wrapped loving arms around each other during times of stress and difficulty. They know they can count on each other for support – no matter the day, no matter the hour. They are much more than friends and closer than many sisters.

Christmas 2009

So this Saturday, we’ll gather with Peggy’s family to remember her and to celebrate her life. The quilts she stitched with so much love will be on display throughout the church.

Together, we’ll share Peggy stories and we’ll laugh because it wouldn’t be right to remember Peggy without laughter. But rest assured, this memorial service will be hard on us and there will also be tears.

Because this time...this time, we’ve lost one of us.

Godspeed, my friend – ‘til we meet again at that big Quilt Show in Heaven.