Grandma's Sewing Machine

The height of my sewing skills came around the eighth grade when I learned how to sew make up bags in Home Ec. Still though, I like to sew little projects around the house. Make some curtains here, hem a pant leg there. My mom loaned me her sewing machine prior to the wedding when I was crafting my butt off. Then, when my mom's family came to Omaha for said wedding, my aunt brought me one of my grandma's sewing machines that she had at her house. I was really excited to get it, but ever since she gave it to me it's been sitting in the box in my office.

My grandma passed away almost two years ago. She was living with my aunt and uncle at the time because she was suffering from Alzheimer's and well... you know. She always thought that her sewing machine was broken, so she'd go out and buy a new one every so often to replace it. I think when she died she owned four perfectly functioning sewing machines, but she thought they were all broken. I don't think she ever took any of them out of the boxes. The one I ended up with was still in its original packaging.

It sat unopened until tonight because I couldn't bring myself to open it. It breaks my heart to think of my poor grandmother spending hundreds of dollars at a time on sewing machines that she'll never use, because she doesn't know any better. I opened it up tonight but didn't use it. Inside the box was a receipt for $229 and a warranty with her name on it. It's dated less than a year before she died.

I used the loaner machine from my mom tonight. I know that I should use grandma's machine and appreciate her unintentional gift to me, rather than never use it. Maybe next time...