Copyright Sandra Crook
It was all she had to leave me, she said, unaware she’d left me so much more.
I blow the dust from the spindle and test the treadle with my foot. It still works. As did she, right up to a few months before her death.
Hers was a different era. A time when the needy were truly needy, and not just needing more; when aid was for times of crisis, and not a way of life.
In the bobbin-box I find a roll of bank-notes, carefully labelled.
“For my funeral.”
You paid your way, even on your way out.
Thank you to Rochelle for using my photo to rally the Friday Fictioneers into action. This brought back some memories for me. And I was pleased that inspiration came quickly and easily this week.
castelsarrasin 
Quite a moving piece. My mum had one of those sewing machines 🙂
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They were lovely machines. I inherited mine from my Gran and traded it in for an electric table model. I never got the hang of it like I did with my Gran’s.
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My Nan had one of these too. Lovely memories.
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Just lovely, Sandra
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Thank you, Neil.
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Dear Sandra,
Work ethic indeed. Makes me sorry I didn’t get to know her. You painted a rich portrait of a different time.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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A very different time indeed, Rochelle. Thanks for reading.
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Pingback: Friday Fictioneers -Sewing The Seeds Of The Past | A Mixed Bag
Awesome story Sandra. Thanks for the image this week.
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Thanks Al. 🙂
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Moving. I adored the paragraph “Hers was a different era. A time when the needy were truly needy, and not just needing more; when aid was for times of crisis, and not a way of life.”
Very true …
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Thanks Graham. Yes, I often reflect on that phrase. 🙂
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Oh and thanks for the image!!
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I must say that this is fantastic.. such a moving story, a sense of duty… having grown up with strong Lutheran values I can see this still happening. Duty or work ethics…
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Thanks Bjorn. Yes, I inherited a lot of that spirit too.
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Really lovely, and moving. I feel like I would have liked to know this woman.
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Thanks Claire. Glad you liked it and her. 🙂
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Superb as ever, and with a serious message.
You probably know all about this but just in case:
http://www.singersewinginfo.co.uk/kilbowie/
Just a few miles from Glasgow’s west end where I lived for many years.
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Really interesting link that CE. I loved my old Singer, but the new electric model that replaced it wasn’t a patch on it. I see they closed in 1980. Probably about the time I gave up on the Singer and switched to the Japanese models. Thanks for reading.
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Love the first line. A touching portrait.
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Thanks Iain, glad you liked it.
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That was such a different time. 🙂
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Wasn’t it just? 🙂
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Very nice. Reminded me a bit of the bill glued into the accordion bellows in Accordion Crimes, though nobody knew about those.
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Thank you!
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Beautifully written and very thought provoking. I have conflicting thoughts on the theme of work ethics and neediness. And I still have an old machine like that in working order. 🙂
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They were beautiful pieces of machinery, weren’t they? Thanks for reading.
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A beautifully expressed piece 🙂
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Thank you, Morgan.
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Often times, things are just things, but sometimes they evoke the most precious memories. Wonderful story.
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Thanks Caerlynn. 🙂
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I love the message behind this and appreciate the subtlety. We do live in a different time for sure.
Thanks for the photo inspiration today and the writing inspiration every week.
Tracey
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Thank you Tracey. Glad you liked it, and congrats once again.
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You might have written this story about my grandmother and mother. Sometimes I think those work ethics have gone up in a puff of rudeness and undeserved expectation.
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I think you’re right Alicia. Good to have you back this week.
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Lovely and so true.
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Thanks Clare 🙂
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Wise words.
We have become so spoiled and there are so few of us now who actually remember first-hand stories like these. We’ve lost our humility.
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I’m afraid you’re right, Dawn. Thanks for reading.
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Aww. Nice story.
Randy
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Thanks Randy.
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Is it wrong of me to think that in reality she’ll blow the money on the crap tables at Vegas? Lol.
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You’re obviously mixing in the wrong circles, Paul. 😉
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Brilliantly told.
With a strong message of how self serving the world has become.
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Thank you!
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Shortly after her ninetieth birthday, I interview my mother for https://storycorps.org/. One memory that stood out in her mind was regarding an aunt who was particularly good at making button holes. Shiloh Museum used that clip the following year when they did a special exhibit on the StoryCorp interviews. Fond memories.
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I made my first buttonhole when I was eleven, and I cut out a circle in the cloth and hemmed the edges beautifully. It’s true to say I was never of an engineering bent, and it took me a while to work out why the buttons kept on coming undone!
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I love the last sentence and the deeper meaning of this post. Thank you.
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Thank you!
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Pingback: The Singer and the Song | MJL Stories
Inspiring photo. Great story – on and below its surface. Sewing is coming back (a little) but probably much that goes with those skills is lost.
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Now that I live in a more rural area, I’ve contemplated making my own clothes again, but the paper patterns are so uninspiring these days!
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Ooooo so sad Sandra, well told
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Thank you Laurie. 🙂
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Lovely piece and I enjoyed your social commentary. Times have indeed changed, or at least people’s perception of what “truly needy” actually is. It does not, in fact, mean that your phone is two years old and you can’t afford a new one.
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Or that the television doesn’t cover an entire wall. 🙂 Thanks for reading.
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A very beautiful and strong first line. We all owe our lives to such strong souls.
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oh my what a tense write! I love the way you close the story. What a memorable way to end the tale!
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I like this quiet piece–a moment of characterization for us to step into as the narrator mourns.
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Great, Sandra! You captured not only her whole life in this story, but also that era of the sewing machine. People made things and hung on to them, didn’t waste or take things for granted. It really made me think. Thanks for the photo!
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Very nicely penned Sandra – especially loved “when the needy were truly needy, and not just needing more; when aid was for times of crisis, and not a way of life” So very well said. Great photo prompt too.
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This is so well told and does remind me of my parents generation where they did work hard and valued things in such a different way to nowadays, where everything seems so disposable. Nicely done, Sandra
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Amazing, Sandra! The thought behind all that is truly remarkable and so insightful. People, like my grandmothers, really DID live lives like that. My mom passed on to me those values and I hope I can pass them on to others.
Superb! Five out of five bobbins.
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You are so right about that era, dear Sandra. Beautiful, moving. It reminded me of my mother always spending her afternoon on sewing machine.
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I enjoyed your story, Sandra. Thanks for the great picture. My grandmother must have kept her mother’s old machine as she sewed clothes for me when I was young. Her mother died long before I was born. Good writing. 🙂 — Suzanne
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‘When the needy were truly needy’ – that struck a chord. The only way I could clothe my children was by making their dresses and trousers myself.
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Perfectly written, as always, Sandra. The work ethic has sadly gone to the wayside.
My grandmother left a money labeled for her funeral too. I wonder if that was something traditional from the past. I enjoyed this very much.
Isadora 😎
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you truly excel when you say “a time when the needy were truly needy….” wish i could write like that
http://obliqview.blogspot.in/2016/09/superstition-dont-ever-dispose-ofthis.html
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Superb and poignant. Evoked some cherished memories, thank you.
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