The Wonder Years

I know that the television show The Wonder Years was played in our home and still is watched in reruns and re-reruns by the boys in particular. I don't even know the characters' names, but I do know this. The telling of a family story via that show, was an important part of our household. For me it was The Waltons. Growing up in the country on a farm, I related very easily to this particular show that aired in the 70's. John-Boy and Ralphie, both had a way of telling their story, their family story that caught one's imagination and gripped tight to one's heartstrings. As viewers watched these shows about families, they could see parts of themselves in the lives of others.


Lately I have had the words The Wonder Years roaming in my head. I never know exactly where these thougthts I am thinking are coming from, but I feel as if I need to act on them when they appear. Especially if I find myself thinking them over and over again. So, what was the Wonder Years? I wonder (to speculate curiously), if it was my life as wife and mom...wondering if that is what my heart and head are trying to figure out. Other synonyms for the word wonder are awesome, marvelous, miraculous and remarkable. In writing all of this nonsense, it strikes me as how often one uses the same word in a different form. Anyway, all of the above is just food for thought today.


The new televison season is upon us. If Bruce would be here, he would be all geared up and excited for his favorite shows. To name a few they were; Boston Legal, 24 hours, Prison Break and The OFFICE and anything on the Cooking Channels. He and Abby would sit for hours if they had the time, and watch cooking shows together. I loved the time they were able to do this. What a gift it was for both of them! These rounded out his most beloved shows last fall. Except of course for any sports that might be on -ie; Baseball series, Iowa Hawkeyes, Vikings -especially if they were winning! I would be the Good Wife and come down into our family room and be somewhat interested in some of these shows. Of course, my favorite shows are anything on HGTV, Dancing with the Stars and American Idol. Bruce also loved American Idol. Being a music major his first two years of college, he did have a VOICE, a SINGING VOICE that could have gone places if he had so chosen! But, instead he became my one an only! An above average husband, father and brother! He loved his family more than life itself. He also loved his down time, his off-work at home time. He loved just being entertained when he wasn't entertaining others. He would change out of his work day attire, which was usually jeans/shorts or khakis and into his favorite sweats or pj bottoms and his favorite sweatshirt/ t-shirt and just be BRUCE.

I am thinking about his attire, as right now, my desk is filled with pieces of his past. I have begun cutting up his clothes into pieces for quilts. What a labor of love this is! I can't help but think about the family quilt that hangs on my living room wall. It belonged to Bruce's mother, Donna. She would say to me, "here is the quilt top that my Grandma VanOsdoll made for me when I was a little girl!" In amazement, I would look at this folded mass of patchwork crazy quilt that had never been completed. After we moved Bruce's mom to the River Falls Nursing home, I took the quilt top, had it repaired and it now hangs in our living room. I wonder now...whose clothes these scraps of fabrics belonged to. What was the story behind these scraps of fabrics. I also wonder if quilting not only came about as a way to use up old clothes, but to recycle the clothes of loved ones that had passed. Perhaps one day, I will have to research the history of quilting and figure this out. But for now, I am back into the present day and looking at the scraps of fabric that one year ago was in our laundry every week. Or in my iron pile to 'do up'. Even though his shirts were permament press, me being from the old school would have to iron them just a little to make them look presentable! Included in these 8 piles of perfectly cut shapes are Bruce's favorite 'lounging attire'- a pair of blue plaid drawstring flannel pj bottoms that are now cut into perfectly shaped pieces. His burgundy shirts that he wore usually under a sweater vest have been lovingly taken apart, straightened, ironed and recut into pieces.

Yesterday, as I was babysitting for little Avery, I sat her up on my large workdesk amidst the scraps of fabric. With my sewing machine buzzing, the iron on and pressing the newly sewn 12 x 12 squares for a crazy quilt, she dozed. I turned on my computer and put in the burned CD of the songs that we found comforting during the funeral and memorial video we had made. "Only the Good Die Young" by Elton John, "Somewhere over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful Life" montage and the Christian song,"I can only imagine" played and replayed. Yes, a few tears fell as usual. Sewing away, ironing away, looking at my little angel just a-snoozing away,I thought about how much my life has changed in just such a short time. This no doubt causes those emotional aqua-ducts to overflow.

One day when she is older, I will show her the photo I took of her sitting amidst this crazy quilt mess. I may even share these words with her. She, one day may share this story with her children and perhaps her grandchildren of what an important part she played in her grandma's life. How she helped soothe those sad moments with her smile and her bright sparkling eyes. Maybe she will even have a quilt to prove the story she tells. Her story will be real.

The imprints we leave on others is never quite known by some. As one grows older, one realizes just how important these little moments in our days become. So, it is today. As I type this final paragraph, I have turned on my iron and am getting ready to continue with my project of recycling Bruce's clothes and my love for him for the next generation. Avery has just awoke, she is waiting for her grandma to make a silly face at her. Gotta go.

Enjoy today.
Deb