calico cupboard

in our quest to discover

quilt shops

in central ohio...

.

...we hopped on I-270 from grove city

heading east

way east to a place called pataskala

the further we drove

the more i wondered

if we truly needed to go this far

we finally arrived

at the rural shopping center

to find calico cupboard

inside...

a charming collection

displayed in crisp white shelving

just like our plans

the store helper seemed friendly

we shared typical quilt store chit-chat

then she told me she is retired

from the

state office of mr/dd

where she started her career in

one of ohio's

former institutions

for the mentally challenged

a place where

some would have wanted to put my sarah

not that long ago

i can't imagine that

i told her what the services

were like today with the cuts in funding

and that sarah and i are opening

a quilt store in cleveland

to create an opportunity

for her and her friends

she told me of another mom

in southern ohio doing the same

for her son with Down syndrome

by opening a small machine shop

i felt empowered by that

knowing i'm not alone in this

journey

as sarah ages out of the school system

.

while we were chatting

sarah went to look for fabric

she picked a red and a blue

for her stampin' for america project

we talked of using fabric this year

her selections were right on

moda marble stars

and one I did not recognize

it is by cheri strole

dinosour skin in royal

.

i'm so glad we made that drive

to pataskala