the tattered roof...

i've been asked

often

over the years...

.

...to repair things

broken zippers

skirts needing shortened

waistbands that are too tight

pants that are torn

when this call first came in

i declined

time is not on my side

these days

the new friend

 arrived with it in a large bag

just the same

a queen size quilt

entirely pieced with houses

my mind rushed back in time

to my first days

of quilting

a teenager with keen new interest

yet hands of mature experience

i was once told

as i looked

 at the disintegrating fabric

and i listened to eileen

tell the story of how

she had been asked

to make this repair

for a nice gentleman

yet her aging arthritic hands

could just not hold the needle

or make the tiny stitches

anymore

i somehow realized this

was coming to me

for a reason

as i carefully removed the

salmon colored tattered roof

i recalled the night

so many years before

when i sat inside a tiny office

at the domestic violence shelter

holding the hands

of a woman

who just fled a dangerous man

with her children

sleeping on a couch

 in the next room

i shared a quilt block

 i had been stitching

it was the same pattern

 as the one i am now fixing

i remember telling her

not to be afraid for

she had a roof over her head

and a place where her kids

would now be safe

a few days later

she joined a quilt circle

i was teaching

 i had them make a house block

as a symbol of a

new beginning

all week as i worked on this quilt

customers were amazed

they oohed

and they ahhed

marveling that i would take on

such an endeavor

i shared with a few that

i'm just a social worker

at heart

paying it forward

with hands that were blessed

for needle and thread

the owner of the quilt

phoned yesterday

i could tell by his voice

he was pleased it was done

when a grandfatherly man

 walked into the shop today

i knew it was him

his physical physique matched

the tender voice on the phone

as i opened the quilt

his eyes filled with tears

the old tattered roof

was once again whole

he asked what he owed me

i had instantly determined

his smile was enough

to which he replied

how about if i make a donation

to that place eileen

volunteers

where is that i asked

the battered women's shelter

he replied

the tears had now

transferred

 from his eyes to mine

as i was just reminded

how beautifully life circles

miracles indeed