Pendleton shirts ….2….

 Pendleton shirts…2…

Shirts again…holding clothing dear… the smell of a person who is gone…there is something comforting about that…our animals know, our souls know…that familiar look or feel or waft …it is hard to part with…and we don’t have to until it feels right and we are at peace with it…

Some families make memory quilts, some make memory teddy bears using scraps from various clothing articles that represent the loved one…or find a good home ….in my family, everything was so usable that I didn’t have to heart to cut things into pieces…we are still wearing those shirts, coats, jeans, jewelry…whatever…and thank those who wore them before…a good memory…

Don’t rush cleaning out the closets…you have to be ready to face it…each person/family has a different timeline….it is cleansing, healing , can bring fun and laughter, anger, tears, many emotions…but it is part of the journey…

Pendleton shirts.......

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I was sitting church on Sunday behind a man wearing a Pendleton woolen shirt...now, this may not mean much to most, but to our family, Pendleton woolen shirts are big deals.  My father-in-law wore Pendleton shirts, my father wore them and my husband wore them...On our first date, my husband was wearing one,....he wore one when we were released from the hospital  with our first born son...


When we were first married, my husband had a few shirts,  they were less expensive then, but over the years he accumulated more, not wanting to part with his first ones...I even went so far as taking off the collars and turning them over so the threadbare necks wouldn't show...
                         


In college, I had to sew a plaid shirt, so I chose Pendleton fabric to create a shirt for my father...he wore it until it was totally thread bare, finally giving it up to one of his faithful dogs for its bed...but he called it is $12,000 shirt...his payback for college expenses.  


We toured the woolen mills in Pendleton, OR and Washugal, WA., purchasing fabric for shirts, woolen scraps for rugs at one time...I sewed several shirts and made many rugs from their scraps, even teaching classes on their construction...my husband's favorite rug under feet near his recliner was Pendleton wool...my father's favorite lap blanket was as well, constructed by my daughter-in-law...
 

It seemed fitting at the end, that my husband was buried in a Pendleton shirt...I know he didn't need it to keep him warm, but, I needed it for him...those faithful Pendleton shirts....

Those shirts of both my father and husband were divided between sons, sons-in-law and grandsons...they may or may not wear them, but they are memories of people we all loved, their colors, their texture, their smell...their faithful warmth....

Watching the Griefshare videos reminds me of things we hold on to...those pieces of our loved ones...those favorites we look at, handle, cry over...such a part of the past now...but still part of us....sometimes flooding us with memories, other times gentle touches....of times past....they have left their mark on us...

God is faithful..., touching our lives mightily at times, gently at others....He is always there, reminding us of His care, warming our spirits with His infinite love....He doesn't wear out...He never leaves us or forsake us....wrapping us with His protection....He is there from the beginning and will always be there without end....faithful .....

Thank YOU for Your faithfulness, wrapping us like these Pendleton shirts, only much better.....


Psalm 102:26-27 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. 

Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. 

Psalm 40:11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. 

Psalm 57:10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 

Psalm 86:11, 15 Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.