Markers

I am a hoarder.

More specifically, a HOBBY hoarder.

When I was pregnant with our first over twenty-four years ago, I took up quilting.

Seemed pretty innocent. Sewing was a family affair. Both sides hand sewed clothes, curtains, tablecloths, and blankets.

I bought myself a sewing machine, cloth, and thread. I had to keep myself busy as a new transplant in Georgia where substitute teaching paid less than working at the mall.

On November 1st, 2001, the Rosie O’Donnell Show played in the next room while I sewed in the guest room. I daydreamed about the new baby. Who would the baby look like? Would he have curly hair like my husband? Would he have dark eyes like mine? What was that awful crunch sound?

It was the sewing needle which pierced through my left index fingernail.

I turned the knob on the sewing machine to lift the needle out of my finger but it didn’t budge. I twisted the knob above the needle to release it but it would not budge.

We lived in an apartment on the second floor. I couldn’t yell for help. All of our neighbors worked during the day. We didn’t have cell phones. We had a house phone.

In the living room.

To be continued…

P.S. Here are more studies of Ed Emberley animals.