The matriarch of our family. My Grandma Daisy, she touched many, many lives over the years. Today Daisy would have been 102. She died just a few months short of turning 100 years old. She was an inspiration to me in so many ways. She had a hard life, grew up with her sister in a catholic orphanage, when she did move home her stepmother died in her arms, worked to support herself and her family. Through it all she had a wonderful marriage, raised three reasonably well adjusted children, and worked full time. She used to tell me she was a survivor, and that is how you had to get through the day. I have often thought about those words and yes, sometimes that is what gets me through the day!
She taught me to knit and crochet at age 7. I guess that was the beginning of a life long career, passion and one could even say obsession. She was always working on something, usually a baby blanket. She used the ripple pattern in neutral colors, you know, pink and white and blue or green and yellow striped. I truly believe there was not a baby born in the Duluth or Superior area during the 70’s and 80’s who did not own one of those blankets. Grandma Daisy made a good share of them. I know for a fact that some of them are still out there in bits and pieces, still cherished and loved by their now grown owners.
From the time I was quite small she would take both my hands in hers and tell me “With these two hands you will make your way in the world.” It did not mean much to me then, but as I grew older it seemed to have quite an impact. When I became a Massage Therapist for my life profession it really struck me that she knew all along what I would be doing. When I started designing patterns and working with fiber it again struck me how much influence she had in my life.
One year after her death my daughter and I went out and had a tribute to Grandma Daisy day. We decided to get tattoos of a daisy. Cassondra’s has Grandma’s years of life around it. We had been planning exactly what we wanted for about a week and she got up one morning and said “I had a dream and Grandma told me what it is supposed to look like.” So she knew what to do. Mine has the praying hands holding it because religion was a very important part of Daisy’s life and it says “With these two hands” around it. That has been an important statement in my life.
