A bunch of ladies came over to Aunt Kathy's house to knit on Thursday morning and that night she took me to Starbucks to knit with another group of ladies. It was pretty easy to learn the two basic stitches, knitting and purling, and then I started making a ribbed scarf to keep my neck warm when I go back to Michigan.
This is me with some of the morning ladies, Kim, Jess, and Sue. When I asked Aunt Kathy why she was so excited to meet Sue, she explained that Sue's husband left for Afghanistan four days ago to support a Marine Corps unit for ten whole months. Sue and her husband and their two small children arrived in Japan just this past July. They live about 20 minutes from the main base where Aunt Kathy lives.
"What thrills me, Stanley, is watching Sue connect with Tara and Kim, both of whom endured Individual Augmentee assignments last year -- Tara's husband was sent to Kuwait and Kim's to Iraq -- and both of whom have two small children. Let's just sit quietly and knit while they provide emotional support to Sue."
I was sort of surprised at how long Aunt Kathy could go without talking. Maybe she has re-discovered her purpose in life.
We bought some Girl Scout cookies from Jess. The cookie shipment arrived in Japan last week and already there are no Thin Mints left to be bought. Aunt Kathy would probably be leading a lynch party to the head cookie lady's door if she didn't have this IA spouse issue to distract her. Whew.
That night we went to Starbucks where Aunt Kathy introduced me to the Knit Wits, an eclectic assortment of serious knitters. Betty invited me to help her sort squares she's going to turn into baby blankets for the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. Someone told me Betty's hair was so pink last week it matched her sweater and the week before that her hair was fluorescent green. Betty and Aunt Kathy spend more time laughing than knitting. Aunt Kathy says Betty is a "character." I think it takes one to know one.
No comments:
Post a Comment