i have a friend named susi.  we met this fall, on a rainy november day. she had been at anwyn wool, the beautiful new wool studio on the corner.  and when she heard of my studio up the street, she came to see the quilts. let me explain, that she had had a very bad experience with a large dog about a year before.  when she came to the door, ezra leapt from the couch and ran barking to the door.  and despite her fear, she trusted me when i told her he just sounded mean and would be fine as soon as she was in the door.  she trusted me.  and the two of them were quickly friends.  and so were we.  there are times when you meet someone and talk for hours without even realizing it.  that's what we had. when she left it was almost dark on a rainy cold november night.  and she had 15 kilometres to cycle to get home. she insisted it was fine.  and emailed me when she got home. (thankfully her husband picked her up halfway home).
susi came back to the studio a few days later and bought a baby quilt to send to her new grandson in germany.  susi moved to canada 9 or 10 years ago.  and her oldest daughter had stayed in germany and had two young children that susi had never met.  the next time she came to the studio, her husband had been laid off from his job.  but he had a passion and talent for working with wood.  and he was making wooden knitting needles (the ones i wrote about a few posts ago).  i took a bundle of the needles to sell for her.  
things became more and more busy with christmas sales. we saw each other a few more times.  and stayed in touch with texts.  
this weekend i was cleaning the house.  i took a break to zone out on the computer, checking out facebook.  and i saw a randomly shared  link called 'susi's last wish'.  the spelling of her name was so distinct that i immediately was afraid.  the first line referred to her as a 49 year old woman.  we had spoken of our ages. i knew she was 49.  and then i opened the link and saw her photo.  and i started weeping.  it was her.  and january 5th she had found out that the cervical cancer she had had in 2012 had metasticized to her lymph nodes, liver and spleen.  and there was no further treatment for her.  
we spent the afternoon together yesterday.  she is in a lot of pain.   and finds it very difficult to see people devestated by her illness.  so she has kept it to herself as long as she can.  she is cheerful and strong and thankful.  she is such a remarkable woman.  she wants to see her grandshildren and her daughter in germany. and her doctor's say that if she's going to travel she has to do so in the next few weeks.  with her husband laid off, it's very difficult to come up with the money, especially when they have to go so quickly.  the link i saw on facebook is an indiegogo link which i'm linking here.
if you're interested in donating and don't want to do it online, i am happy to collect checks for her....we have a card with checks that i'm going to give them on friday.  if you can give, any amount will help.  

it's been a quite a holiday.  resting.  and reconnecting.  and togetherness.  a lot of togetherness.  i'm still not back to the stucio.  i'm working.  but just doing the sewing that i can do from home.  ezra and stella on the couch with me.  the fire adding warmth and pure coziness.  bbc period dramas on netflix.  i've needed this.   and the crazy weather sort of forced it upon us.  first there was ice.  then snow.  and then temperatures that with the wind chill factored in, hovered between -30 and -40 degrees.  icy sidewalks. streets that people were actually skating on.  the house banging and shaking in the night from the 'frostquakes' triggered by the drastic changes in temperature.  so we cozied into the library (my favorite room) and had a little winter holiday.  ezra had a few 'bambi' moments on the ice, but he really did well.  ellsworth is going a little stircrazy from being inside all the time.  but we've all found a great rhythm.  i started sewing again around New Years.  and i have the bones of 5 large throw quilt tops almost ready to move to the studio.  working at a luxurious pace and spending time with the ones i love.  it's been a marvelous start to the year.