A Bittersweet Family Reunion

Every year we gather on beautiful Presque Isle State Park to rekindle family relationships and ogle over the new babies that have come along through the past year. It hard to believe but this year in July we will celebrate our 18th Turko Family Reunion. Our family is fortunate to have a cousin who is passionate about researching our family history so we know a little more about the struggles and triumphs that have shaped us and made us who we are. We are indeed a unique group of people with our little quirks and imperfections, but that is what makes us so special. This year we reached a milestone that we all know would eventually come. Gone is a special generation that shared wisdom and delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies.

And now it is up to the next generation lead our family into the future.

After the passing of my Aunt Mary my cousin was going through her mothers family memorabilia and she came across a dress that our grandmother wore to work. Although the dress had been lovingly saved through the years, the wear and tear of our grandmothers life was well apparent and could be seen on the dress. My cousin being the forward thinker that she is wanted to share the dress in a way that could benefit the family. She reached out to me to discuss how we could use our grandmothers dress to insure future family reunions as the cabin we reserve each comes at a cost.

Since our grandmothers dress had seen better days, I offered to turn it into a quilt for the next phase of our family's history. As a quilter, I felt that it would be a wonderful way to honor the hours of hard work she endured while wearing that dress. Probably the most difficult part of the whole task was actually cutting into the dress. I took her dress apart and embroidered the names of our grandparents and their children onto that treasured fabric. Each of the blocks bearing their names are also decorated with a button from her dress. Since my grandmother was a sweet country woman she had a safety pin on the dress so she could fasten the neckline as to not reveal too much and protect her modesty. That treasured pin is fastened onto the block that bears her name. All the other quilt blocks bear a wreath signifying how life comes full circle.

Now that the quilt is made, our plan is to sell raffle tickets to win it at the family reunion. That way it will be as fair as possible in awarding this family treasure to a lucky family member. The proceeds will fund future family reunions. I must admit it will be very difficult to let it go. I hope the lucky winner will appreciate all the love and attention that has gone into the construction of the quilt. And who knows, I may even win it back because I am saving up my money to buy lots of tickets.