Mother Sees

Knit Together With Red Thread

For me, this is a piece of art.  My blind Mother knit this. Since her blindness settled in for good, she has not been able to complete a single knitting project.  It's been five or six years now. She took up knitting again 10 months ago but she has not successfully knitted more than three rows.  Her fingers would feel some small hole or mistake and she would rip it all out and re cast to begin over.  She could not sit and speak with you without picking up her needles and a few minutes later unraveling what she had done.  It was as if her own thoughts were unraveling. Her days were unwinding.  Her life was becoming a big knot. Knitting  symbolized her current life. 

I have been taking care of my mother for almost a month  marching steadily towards decline, ill health, and all kinds of trials and tribulations that make her blindness in comparison seem a small and trite thing. I have been pushing her to finish more than three rows and it was with great ceremony that last night we cast off this knitting.   This piece has much symbolism for me. Sure, there are holes.  At places, it is inside out.  It grows. It has many flaws.  Isn't this true of us all? I know it is of me.  But this is knit by my mother and so am I,  knit together with her hands and all her hopes. 

After I took a photo of this and told her I was about to share it with my scattered brothers in Asia, she lifted her head away from my voice and asked, "Do you have any thicker yarn in brighter colors?"

We cast a new piece tonight.

A Quick Bite

Li Li was very busy taking care of her Ah Ma.  Granny was blind and bedridden so all she could afford was a quick bite.

A Visit to Reconsider

Lee Yu Ming had been working in the big city for several years when word reached her that her mother was weak and cried out to see her daughter every night.  Reluctantly she rushed home, pulling her only son out of school. It would be her duty to step in and take over the care of her  mother and the management of her old courtyards. As soon as Yu-Ming stepped over the threshold the same confidence that had driven her from it doors ten years ago now flooded back. It dawned on her in that moment that she had only been a mediocre business woman while in the city and that her son had not thrived as she had imagined he would. Some small glimmer of hope came over her.

Dao's Daughter

Dao's daughter had many dreams for her future.  First, all cabbages needed to be cleaned and wrapped for market.  Then her brother's bicycle needed to be repaired. Finally, she must help her mother clean the Farang's house.  After that she might dream about school.

Washing Up The New Year

After Dao was certain that the family she now worked for had departed for their long journey home, the newly hired maid sighed with relief, happy to be alone in the house once again. She looked forward to the long and sunny days ahead where she would wash all the linens and clean up after the Blue Moon New Year. By the time her mistress returned, it would be time for the Chinese Lunar New Year. Dao wondered how many new years a family needed.

Blue Moon Over Pong Yaeng

Happy New Year!