i made a quilt with mozell

during the last week in may
the girls and i went to waverly, AL
to experience country life
kind of like i used to do back in the day.

the morning of the day we were supposed to leave
i went to a funeral with my mom, sanaa and aya.
the wife of my mom’s cousin, laPonda,
had passed after living with cancer for several years.
while funerals are solemn occasions
they are also a chance to reconnect with family you haven’t seen in a while.

i hurriedly packed and that evening after dark
we headed out to alabama.
we stayed in opelika for the night.
the next day after loading up with groceries from walmart
– and losing my wallet in the process –
we headed out to waverly
where the first part of the address after the house number is
“country road 72″.

oh, it was wonderful.
sanaa stayed outside
or across the street outside at my aunt’s ALL day.
bed time was at night after dinner when she fell asleep.
she did have to adjust to sleeping with the television on:
my grandmother cannot sleep without it.
she uses it for light, she says.
always has.
i would sometimes get up
and find sanaa or rahmah under the TVs trance
whether it be late-nite, all night law and order’s
or some never-ending commercial for shamwow super shammy’s.

they played outside,
went walking in the fields,
explored grandma mozell’s garden,
gingerly interacted with the dogs
– one of the dogs scratched rahmah with its teeth,
another gave aya a drive-by-licking –
ate yellow plums and a few blackberries,
splashed in the blow-up pool in the yard,
slid down the water slide,
watched birds, rabbits, salamanders and all kinds of insects,
or just played.

i got to experience living in mama mozell’s new house
and i made my first quilt in her studio.

i experienced the refreshing, fast-quipped repartee
of mama mozell’s quick wit
as she instructed and guided me along the way.

the pieces i included were what caught my eye
among the miles of fabric hanging from the rafters,
from the walls, or in bins in her studio.
i just tuned in to the improvisational style
that’s always been prevalent in her quilts.
the long strip anchoring the center
was a piece that my grandma got from her trip to nigeria
when i was still in grammar school.
it was quite a find
and the only piece like that that i could coax out of her.
i stayed in the pinks
because i knew from the start
that i was making this quilt for my first daughter, sanaa.
the green short strips with white polka dots say:
kori made this!
and kind of feel like the rear lights of a car.

i don’t feel the need to make any more.
i haven’t caught the quilting bug
like my mother.
what does it feel like to have done this with her?
it’s like being able to check off one of my lifetime goals,
a personal accomplishment.

because mama mozell’s memory is deteriorating with age
i will always treasure this memory of spending this serene week with her,
quilting in spurts in between taking care of the requirements of life.

we ended the week with ishaq picking all his “girls” up
and, on the way back to atlanta,
attending the wedding
of my cousin, dante, on my father’s side of the family
one time zone,
but just an hour’s drive away in lanett, AL.

the rituals of a funeral,
summer-times with family,
participating in grandma’s family tradition of quilting,
and the celebration of a wedding
are wonderful reminders of the precious circle of life.
subhanAllah!