Today, December 10th, is my sister Heather’s 22nd birthday. And today, my family celebrates alone because our precious Heather is in heaven. I don’t know what to do today without her here, so I thought I would just post something about her.
I’m wearing a scarf right now that Heather knit for me several Christmases ago. I remember opening a shirt box to find a grey hoodie shirt and a pink striped scarf inside. I was surprised to see this particular scarf in my box, because I had seen her knitting it, and she had told me she was making it for my other sister. All along she had intended it for me, and I had no idea. It always reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from “Alice in Wonderland,” one of my favorite books ever.

After that Christmas, I have worn the shirt and scarf together always. It was a simple gift, but one I have always cherished, even more so now that she is gone. I’m a fairly simple person who is easily pleased with small gifts and attentions, so having Heather knit me a scarf is more memorable than some of the other gifts she spent more money on. Being a knitter myself, I know the time and attention that goes into making even the smallest items, and I always loved it when Heather would give me her scarves that she had knit.

Heather was an erratic knitter–not that she wasn’t good at knitting, quite the opposite. No, it was when she knit that was erratic. She would get a wild hair and buy a bunch of yarn and knit like mad for a time. And then she would just stop. But whenever she did knit, she had such a way of making the most complicated patterns. I learned to knit a couple years after her, and when I realized how intricate it was to make things she thought of as “simple” blew me away. I wished she would have spent more time knitting more, but perhaps that is what makes the few items I have from her even more special.

I love you, my sweet sister Heather. Happy Birthday.