Our Gifts to the World

I used to wonder why I was so eager to give away projects that I had made by hand. For a long while, I rarely kept much for myself. In my case, I’ve never had children. Therefore, my writing and my crafts are, in a way, my “children.” I send them forth into the world. If I’ve “raised” or “crafted” them just right, they will bring comfort and pleasure to others.
I realized that it is that way with most of us. Oh, not necessarily that they are our “children.” But that our handmade items are a part of us that we send out into the world, something that says, “I am here, world. I hope you like me. I hope you like what I made for you.”
It’s not just women. Men love to make things, too, and many give those things away, just as women do. It’s leaving a part of us on this earth, making our mark. Not making a fortune, and not making a display of ourselves, not making a show of it. Most of the times, we give these handmade gifts quietly, on special occasions, sometimes even anonymously.
I remember a few years before my mother passed away, she went into a frenzy of making afghans and slippers and kitchen towels that hang on cabinet doors. She gave them to all three of us kids (me, my sister, and my brother). When I asked her why she did that, when we already had some things she had made, she said, simply, “I just don’t want you to forget me.” As if we ever could forget her! But I know what she meant. I feel that need, myself. And if you are reading this, you probably do, too. Please, God, help me to always enjoy making things with the hands you have given me!