I made drapes for every house we ever lived in.  Nothing I made would do at the next one, so I was constantly sewing every time we moved.  The drapes got progressively more intricate as I learned how to fit them to odd shaped windows.  I had known how to sew since I was 10 or 11 when I told my mom the dress she made me was ugly.  She handed me the dress, pattern, thread, scissors and said, "When you know what you like and don't like, you can sew for yourself.  She never sewed for me again.  I learned two things.  1. To sew.  2.  To keep my mouth shut when she did something for me.

I made intricate little dresses for my girls.  Smocking, embroidered trim, etc.  I learned how to make a pattern from scratch.  The other day Becky called and said, "Mom do you want to put that dress you made for the Marine Corps Ball  in 1964 in the Estate Sale?  I know I can get three or four hundred dollars for it."  "No," I said.  "I don't.  I like to look at it every now and then and touch the fabric."  I had designed the dress pattern to fit me like skin with a fishtail bottom.   It had painted silk on the edges.  I can't remember where I found the fabric--just that it inspired me. (It is gorgeous, if I do say so myself.  No brag, just fact.)

I had put one of the dresses I made in the Antique shop not too long ago.  It sold for a lot of money, but I regretted it.  I don't sew anymore.  And it's nice to look at something intricate that I once made and know that once I was really good at something.  I doubt I could sew a strait stitch now.  We get sentimental about dumb things as we grow older.  We also lose our skills and feel expendable.

But Becky said that an expert in retro-design wanted me to teach her how to make an invisible stitch. So maybe I still have some of the touch.  At least Becky thinks I do.

Long after I quit sewing, I became a math professor for twenty years.  Now, I am a writer.  A complete surprise to me.  It makes me happy.  I hope it makes you happy as well.

I still haven't decided what I am going to be when I grow up.