This National Poetry Month(NPM), I am writing and sharing original poems about food, family and feasts. Sundays will be a day to reshare a poem from the past. A list of links to previous poems is HERE.
One of my favorite people growing up was Grandma Mac. Even though she lived in New Jersey, she visited us in California every summer and Christmas. Sometimes I wish that I had been more open to learning things she wanted to teach me such as tatting.
I still have them and the one she sewed for me with a left handed pocket and my name in French knots. (She was able to teach me that stitch and others). )
After her daughter’s death in 2011, I received Grandma Mac’s journal. It’s evident by here entries that sewing and embroidery were things she loved. Here’s her journal entry for January 24, 1916:
So today, a poem to honor Grandma Mac’s aprons.
old treasures
grandmother’s aprons
family
history
each sewn by nimble fingers
with hidden stories
©jone rush macculloch (2020, draft)
Jone Rush MacCulloch 
I read this thinking about summers spent in my grandmother’s kitchen as a child. It was the house where she was born, and therefore filled with mystery. Mine was a quilter who taught me to tat, to crochet, and stitch. Treasures, indeed. Grandma Mac may have never realized she was creating all of that in more. Thank you for sharing.
What a beautiful way to honor your grandmother, Jone. I loved reading about her and seeing the the photos. How wonderful for you to have her aprons and journal! Is this a concrete poem because the shape looks like an apron to me? I like how all your words were sewn by nimble fingers. The last line, “with hidden stories” is so effective. It seemed like foreshadowing to me and made me want to read more about your grandmother.
Have you thought about making a book of your family prose, poems, and recipes?