A Weekend Of Cross-stitching

A very important form of folklore in my life is cross-stitching, specifically the tradition of going to my grandmother’s in Washington, Indiana one weekend of the summer and cross-stitching with her and her friends. Every summer, my grandmother picks one weekend to have a weekend long cross-stitching party. It is basically a group of elderly women, and myself, coming together and spending a weekend of gossiping, eating, and mainly, cross-stitching together. It is located somewhere in-between material and customary folklore.

The basic theme of the weekend is women empowerment. The whole weekend is really about women leaving their husbands for a few days, getting together with other women, and discussing things such as their children, marriages, past loves, and recipes, all the while cross-stitching. It is actually a tradition that my great-grandmother began. My great-grandmother was a housewife while my great-grandfather worked on the farm every day. To pass the time, my great-grandmother would cross-stitch. Eventually, it became a thing where she invited other women that lived around her to come over and cross-stitch. There was always one weekend during the summer where the farmers would go away and sell their produce to markets. My great-grandmother decided that during this weekend, they should have a cross-stitching party. As soon as my grandmother was old enough, she was able to learn and take part in the cross-stitching party. When my grandmother became a housewife herself, she decided to reignite the weekend long cross-stitching party, and when I was sixteen, my grandmother invited me to visit for the weekend and participate. It is definitely a feeling of being part of a group because it is the same group of women every year.

This weekend is extremely important to me. This group of women is extremely special, and they have taught me so many things that I will carry on with me for the rest of my life. The whole weekend is almost surreal, because they tell me stories of when they were my age and I can see how their lives have progressed and how my life may progress. It is the most important weekend in my life, and I always make sure I am able to be there. Even though I may not live in a small town my whole life, I definitely plan on carrying on the tradition that my great-grandmother began.

This blog entry is my response to reflection question number one.