Erma Bombeck Writing Competition - Winners
2007
Erma Bombeck Writing Competition
Honorable Mention
Human Interest - Global
Joann Burand
Anderson, Indiana
"A Sister's Love"
| Knit two, purl one, knit two, purl two. It was an easy pattern to follow as long as I kept track of the rows. Why did this seem so difficult? Maybe it was my sister's needles. I was six years old when my sister was born. The limelight was no longer mine alone. She was so cute that she stole all the attention. I called her my "tag-along" sister. Wherever I went, she went too. No matter what I chose to do, she wanted to do it too. Even my best friends she claimed as her friends. As we grew into adulthood, her "tag-along-ness" stopped being a problem for me. We actually began having fun being together. We made crafts, exchanged recipes, and shared leftovers. We loved to shop for bargains on the clearance racks. We bought each other gifts that were too good to pass up. And above all, we knitted. We knitted scarves, hats, purses, and afghans. It was a shock when I learned that my younger sister was diagnosed with a very rare soft tissue cancer. She was vivacious, full of energy, and always doing things for her family and others. People wanted her to "tag-along." In the midst of her illness came the wonderful news of a new baby to be born to her youngest daughter. Immediately my sister began to prepare for the new arrival. She turned a bedroom into a nursery. And she began to knit a baby afghan. Her body was being devastated by the dreaded cancer and chemo, but her goal to see the birth of her new grandson kept her alive. We talked about this joyous occasion and then with tears in her eyes, she asked if I would be a grandmother to her grandchildren if anything should happen to her. I reassured her I would love her children and grandchildren as my own. My sister died a week before the birth of her grandson. At her gravesite, I saw a rainbow of knitted scarves made by my sister and worn in her tribute. Wisps of knitted fabric blew in the breeze as if to say thank you and to offer a loving farewell to my sister. The baby's afghan, started by my sister, was not done. I was asked if I could finish it for the baby for Christmas. "Of course," I said. "I'd love to." Knit two, purl one, knit two, purl two. Stitch by stitch the afghan was growing. I would be able to finish it by Christmas. As I gave the afghan to my sister's husband, I could feel her smiling at me. I will love her children and grandchildren as I have loved my sister and I will knit. |