"A Stitch in Time"

My family used to say Aunt Stella was as old as Benjamin Franklin since they shared a birth date. Briefly, before adventuring to the cities of the world, she was a schoolmarm in a one room school. Fond of Franklin, she sprinkled his quotes like Texas bluebonnets to brighten the lives of all ages. I remember particularly this one: "Some are weatherwise. Some are otherwise." Her mother, Mary Leahy Reinhardt, had been so taken with a passing stranger named Stella traveling on a wagon train that the first daughter was proudly christened Stella. My mother, however, didn't see why that would mean giving her the name Della in honor of the same woman just because it rhymed. My grandmother was a reader, though. She had a complete set of the works of Charles Dickens which she had brought over from Ireland by way of England. She had some kind of small organ she played in the farmhouse while other pioneer ladies were quilting and canning. 'Tis said her biscuits were the hardest in Indian Territory. She could have cared less. Eventually, she played for several church services on Sundays and for Saturday night dances as she was the only one round about who could read music. Was this why I became a reader and musician? Possibly. I am particularly fond of David Copperfield, the Charles Dickens version. And I have played on Sundays at churches. Nobody ever asked for a Saturday night dance but kindergarteners routinely requested, "Here We Go to Stomping Land." In honor of Stella now long missed, I quote one of her many poems.

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NOTE WITH A GIFT

I’ll say if you ask why

This day’s selection

That any day’s appropriate

To celebrate affection.

Stella Halit

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The blessings of brave-hearted ancestors and quotable quotes sustain you.