My grandmother, Bernice, braided this rug. Grandma was born in the tiny village of Łuczaje, Poland and came to the United States when she was 6 years old. She married my grandfather, Walter, when she was 16, and the following year my father was born. Bernice and Walter had 12 children all together. They farmed in Wisconsin, and in her "spare time" after cleaning, cooking, canning food for winter, making clothes, doing outdoor chores, and taking care of 12 kids, my grandma braided rugs.
I imagine Bernice (her Polish name was Bronisława), after a full day of hard physical work, sitting down to braid rugs. Was braiding just one more chore, or was it a way for her to express her creativity?
My aunt recently gave me one of Grandma's rugs, and it's now one of my prized possessions. I think about the material she used: children's clothes that had been handed down several times. Old coats that had seen several winters. Worn-out dungarees from the farmhands and boys. Scraps of material from girls' woolen stockings or dresses. Faded wool blankets that were torn into strips.
From all this used material, my grandma created something new and beautiful. From all the threads of her family's life, she braided a work of art with a tale to tell.
Isn't that a lot like our stories?
We start out with "used" material. We find the threads of the story. We braid the threads of our experience to create something new. And in the end, we have a work of art that tells a tale.
Try your own braiding. Not a rug, but a story. Think of two or three incidents or "threads" from your family's life. Write about one of those threads, incorporating colors, textures, and material from your family's experience. Maybe your threads are something that happened to you. Or maybe they're something you've heard family members talk about.
When you're done writing, share your story with your family. Like a beautiful braided rug, your story will be a work of art with a tale to tell--a tale that no one else but you could create from the fabric of your life.
