Heartbreaker

This weekend I was visited by a relative I had only met once before, at a recent family funeral.  Her name is Steffi.  The odd thing is that she lives in Calgary - where I was for ten years.  I had no idea I had relatives in Calgary.  I moved back to Saskatoon 4 years ago, only to find I have relatives five houses up the street from us.  That relative is her sister.  So Steffi and I met up at the funeral of their father (my great uncle Fritz, an artist from Germany) for the first time.  It was strange going to the funeral that day, knowing that I would meet many 'strangers' that I could call family.  When I saw Steffi, it was weird!  I don't know if it was her eyes, or the shape of her face... but something about her was so familiar to what I see in the mirror every day.  She said the same thing.  How amazing for family members to immigrate to a new country, spread out, and generations later find that we live on the same street!? 

a mother's memorial in the sand (from their website)

Steffi came to my city again this weekend with a bag of clothing that she wants made into a memory quilt.  It is the clothing of her son who was beaten to death eight years ago.  His name is Aaron, and he is my cousin.  I never met him - I didn't even know I had all these cousins!  I never knew the story until recently.  He intervened in a fight outside of a night club, was kicked nearly to death, and died days later from hi injuries.  The people who murdered him were never brought to justice.  No witnesses will talk.  Isn't that horribly tragic!?  Steffi now organizes "Walk for Justice" with many other mother's who have lost their children to violent murders that remain 'unsolved'.  (link below)

Aaron, Superman.  Photo from his memorial site.

Here am I now, with a bag of his clothing.  His mother grieves so deeply still.  This will be a very special keepsake for her - something to hold, something to hug.  She's knows I won't get to this project for a while... but it's one I am honored to do.  It's a heartbreaker.  I'll be putting his baby pictures on it, poems from his mother, and it will be made entirely from his clothing. She said I could share all this in my blog, so this post is the beginning.

You can read about his story here:  Walk For Justice

And for such a heavy topic, I don't even know how to end this post.  So for now I'll just say, 'to be continued'...  I know this quilt is something she really wants and needs, so I truly look forward to the day I can hand the completed project back to her.  You can bet it will bring out lots of tears.

~Monika