New home, new quilt

After months of tireless searching, a High School friend who lives very close to where I grew up contacted me to alert me to a vacant apartment upstairs from where he lives. It's about equidistant from my mom's house as the place that I have now vacated. My primary criteria were adequate space for close to 30 years of my stuff (and I have massively downsized in the past few months) as well as the ability to continue to be able to walk downtown and to the University, as well as being a place that I could afford. That has been quite the sticking point in my apartment search. In many long months of frustrating hunting, I have found a real dearth of spacious yet affordable places to live. It seems that our town is embarking on a gentrification program, which is sadly driving up the price of housing to the point of being unaffordable for lifelong residents like me. I had no desire to leave the town in which I have grown up, despite the fact that in the town where I work, I could score a huge 4 bedroom house rental for about what I could pay for one ROOM in a rooming house here in my hometown. Still, I persisted and figured something HAD to show up on the horizon soon, and lo, and behold, a mere two weeks ago, a place finally opened up, and even THAT nearly did not happen, sending me into a 24 hour panic as the date of my eviction neared. Fortunately, things worked themselves out and I was able to sign a lease on this new place, rough though it is. The windows lack screens and don't open and close well, the carpet is dirty and stained, and there is an odiferous smell of cat urine in several places around it which will need to be addressed. Still, it's more than large enough for all of my things. It has a full finished attic on the third floor which, for the time being, will come in handy as storage, as well as a basement. The rooms that have become my living room and bedroom are far too small, admittedly, but will have to make do. The kitchen is plenty large and the single most attractive feature of the place is the huge and spacious closets that will provide ample storage for my needs. I am currently staying at home at my mom's until my brother does some more work around the place to make it ready to move into.

Yesterday my family gifted me with something that moved me to tears. The quilt pictured above (photo credit goes to its creator) is a replica of a quilt that was made by my paternal great-grandmother (my paternal grandfather's mother) probably close to 100 years ago. She died in 1960 when I was but 3 years old and she was just shy of celebrating her 100th birthday. She was born in 1861 when the Civil War broke out and died at the dawn of the space age. The old ancient quilt is something that I have dreamed of having cleaned and restored for many years. It is an heirloom but in very rough shape. My mother has a friend who is an avid quilter who lives near Philadelphia and I am given to understand that my brother commissioned this quilt to be made that is a very close replica of my great-grandmother's quilt. It is of the Ohio Star pattern (or at least a variant on it as I understand it), something that I feel is very near and dear to me as a lifelong Ohio resident, also because my father's family has roots in Ohio going back over 200 years. This is a very traditional quilt pattern that I absolutely adore for its very 19th century look. I have longed for a traditional looking quilt for simply ever. Last year I probably entered every quilt raffle known to humanity and naturally, I did not win a single one. Probably just as well, because now I have this spectacular and beautiful quilt that is a replica of a family heirloom that I will treasure forever as "something old/something new". To its creator, I am gobsmacked, moved, amazed and I absolutely love this beautiful gift beyond measure. It makes this difficult move even better to be able to take something with me that represents those things that are most important to me: family, home, ancestors. A home needs a quilt, and one that represents my roots - my beloved home state, my family history, is the most special gift of all. This quilt, which will be on a bed that is something that dates from when my father was still alive (I seem to remember it being one of two identical beds that my sister and I had at the home in which we lived before our dad died), will make me feel just a little more at home in a strange new environment that I am going to do my best to create as a home for as long as I choose to live there. How long that will be, I do not know. The rent is several hundred dollars a month below the original asking price because my friend told me that the apartment was "rent negotiable" and to name my price, which I did. When he ran it by the landlord, he balked and wanted to hold out for the original asking price well beyond what I could afford. My friend went to the mat for me and talked it down to my asking price, so it could well go back up to the original rent next year. So I am well prepared to live there one year and move on if that is the case. In the meantime, I am going to try to make a home out of this new place, and this beautiful quilt will represent to me the values I hold dear, my family, my home. Nancy the amazing quilter, bless you for making this beautiful gift for me. I absolutely love it. What a treasure! I am so lucky to know someone like you who would make something so special like this for me. Thank you seems pale words to express the gratitude I feel right now.