3: Quiet Down Cobwebs

This is a part of the poem, Song for a Fifth Child by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton.

One of my mother’s friends made this for my mom when she was pregnant with her fifth child, my sister, Maureen. 

It is framed and hung to the right of the front door at my parents’ house. I always loved the embroidery and it certainly sounded true.  What I didn’t know before I had children of my own is how hard it is to quiet the cobwebs and let the dust sleep.

I need to make it clear that I do not have an exceptionally clean or neat house.  We joke about the monster that eats socks while we rifle through the pile of clothes on the floor trying to find two that are the same size.  (Color is a bonus.)  I asked a friend who stopped over recently if she was shocked by the mess.  She said lovingly, “I’ve been here before.”  

I still hear the cobwebs scolding me and the dusty mantle taunting me while I sit on the couch playing This Little Piggy with Augusta.  

Shhhhhh…

2 thoughts to “3: Quiet Down Cobwebs”

  1. Jenny –
    My mom had the SAME embroidery hanging in the kitchen all during our growing up years! 🙂 Seeing it brings back memories… I've often thought of that rhyme during these early-childhood years of motherhood. Thanks for sharing!

    PS- Laura McCarthy introduced me to your blog and your new business venture. 'Lovely to see you pursuing your dreams and using your gifts! 🙂

  2. Jenny: As you know, the embroidery was done by Kitty Lenz, the mother of your classmate, Kurt, who played the young husband in "Our Town" with you as the narrator … in 8th grade! Kitty died of cancer last summer, and Kurt had the organist play "Blessed be the Ties that Bind" at her funeral. Her embroidery continues to be a "tie that binds" mothers, young and old.

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