Beautiful Things

Great stress relief, great conversations, and great "therapy" happened with my friends at Dordt while we sat and crocheted our free time away. It was great for me mostly because now I continue that greatness with my girls.

Soon after I settled back into (Michigan) life, I realized that one of the things that I was missing was that great crocheting time with friends. I didn't have any friends who I felt comfortable enough with yet to really do something like that except for my girls in detention. So I proposed an idea to the PD (Program Director) at the detention center and she went for it without hesitation and hardly without even finishing my proposal, goals, objectives, etc... She was all on board (and I found out why last week).

Anyway, beautiful things are happening...and I'm not talking about the miles of yarn that are currently being crocheted into blankets or waiting such a fate. I'm talking about last night, when the girls had their free time. They all sat, quietly chatting, half of us were helping the other half, and they were relaxed. There was no hint of anger or frustration. Had you walked in there last night, you would not have known that it was detention except by the fact that their T-shirts and Sweatshirts had it written across their chest.

It was so beautiful because each one of them, no matter what their ability level was, whether they caught on quick or constantly made the same mistakes, they were all proud of their work, they were accomplished crocheters.

Thank you to Heather J who taught me. Thank you to God who sprained my ankle the day before. Thank you to all my close friends who got married and gave me practice and are getting married, providing me projects to take in and inspire the girls. You are all apart of this beautiful thing (these girls forever wonder if I actually KEEP anything I make since every time I start a new one, it's a Wedding Blanket!)

(P.S. The reason why the PD didn't have a problem with me coming in to do this was because this was done in previous years. An older African American lady was walking out while I was walking in with my latest project and she asked me what I was doing so I told her. Her reply was, "I used to do that here!")