The meaning of the quilt…or so I thought

When I first started the Wish Quilt, I imagined I’d be writing here talking about crochet. How I decided a little over two years ago to learn from my grandmother. How I’d done the Make A Wish Trailblaze Challenge the next year. And how it just seemed to come together naturally to use one old tradition in my family, crochet, and one new tradition in my family, Make A Wish, to create a project that would benefit the both. But as I’m sitting here typing my first post, at my make-shift dining room table office and knowing that tomorrow we’ll be managing work from home, school from home, and social distancing…it just seems different. Not that the tradition isn’t important. I’ll get to it in later posts. But, the project’s meaning is changing. In some ways, it’s a selfish change. I enjoy the escape of crocheting a new square, especially after I’ve been glued to a screen all day, managing distance learning for my students. Creating new online modules. I enjoy the memories of my hiking friends and fellow Trailblazers, brought back by each square. In some ways, it’s a depressing change. Missing those same Trailblaze family members. Missing the trail. Missing the mission of it all. Upset by the way that my world seems turned upside down. But, in some ways, I can’t describe the change. In some ways, this project seems to help me feel as if the normal way of the world is still there. That even though I’m stuck in this alternate universe of COVID-19, the purpose of the Wish Quilt doesn’t change. The people don’t change. Still getting to post pictures of each square when it’s finished. Still representing the miles we’ve hiked for Wishes with the different colors of yarn. Still looking forward to the next square, and, most of all, the next donation–because it means more Wishes granted. Still learning new stitches and patterns. I guess I am as thankful to the quilt for that as almost anything…