Gift socks

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Sometimes it's not in what you receive, but in what you give that you find joy. And with that in mind, my knitting friend Aal had a give-away on her blog a few weeks ago. She asked her readers who they would want to give a pair of handknit 'by Aal' socks. After some hesitation I left a comment, as sometimes when you have a story to tell, a story to be grateful for and proud of, it can be very painful and intimate to actually write it down and share it with people. But I'm glad I did anyway. Because I won! Well, not me, exactly. My mom did. My glorious yummy mummy, who will turn 64 tomorrow.
And really, had you asked us a year ago whether we thought we'd see this day, well... I'm not sure whether we could've in all honesty have said that we were sure it was going to come. Exactly one year ago, the day before her 63rd birthday, we had the dreaded appointment with the gynaecologist, who confirmed that what we thought was indigestion, some kind of bowel problem, was actually cancer. A very nasty type of cancer at that. After that came several weeks in which we just lived from appointment to appointment, and then to hospital admission and operation. An operation which would have given my mom grey hairs had she not already had them (underneath the dye job ;) ), and one from which she wouldn't wake up from days later than planned. Then, recuperation and six chemo treatments, hairloss, coping with a colostomy bag, a bowel repair op, lots of physio to regain strength... and now, we're one year on. The latest tests give us hope, lots of hope that this determined lady will stay with us for a while yet. My mom has already been on her first holiday as a supervisor of handicapped adults and several more trips and holidays have already been planned for the coming year.
So, tomorrow, I'm going to present these proudly knit socks to a mum to be proud of...
Purple, the colour of expectation, of hope for the future
Pictures of the recipient will follow tomorrow :D

Comments

Aal said…
Wat mooi geschreven.... Ik ben toch ook wel benieuwd wat 'mem' van de sokken èn jouw verhaal vindt!
January 20, 2011 at 8:52 PM
Knit and Purl Mama said…
What a journey your mom has been through. She is blessed with a wonderful daughter!
January 21, 2011 at 2:26 AM
Jolanda said…
Ik word hier stil van.Fijn dat je dit met ons wil delen.


ps. Prachtig gefotografeerd.
January 21, 2011 at 4:52 AM
Herma said…
Wat fijn Ammerins dat het nu zo goed is!!
Wat een bewogen jaar voor jullie allemaal.
Verwen niet alleen je moeder maar ook jezelf maar met dit feit!
January 21, 2011 at 7:45 AM
froukje said…
Wat een bijzondere blog!
January 23, 2011 at 11:05 AM
MoniqueB. said…
Wat een overwinning! En een doorzetter.
En wat boft ze met zo'n dochter die haar steunt.
Geweldig.
January 24, 2011 at 11:53 PM
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