An odd name for a journal entry, but it explains the last year.

What happened in the last year? A lot. It’s so hard to believe this past Friday was a year John’s gone. I pulled myself through, and be assured, it’s not been done alone. The list is endless, just as it was for all those who walked with me to bade John farewell. Many have stayed by my side, but many are new. Two quilters lost their husbands days after John and we have leaned on each other quite a bit this last year. There are new friends and customers who learn of this loss and just stepped in. There are some I met along the Camino de Santiago and walked with for just a bit, but they had a word of encouragement or understanding. Prayers, cards, gifts, visits, getaways, meals, books, plants, flowers, calls, texts, waves, hugs, and memories of John shared with me are just some of the ways people have helped me. Thank you. Please accept a virtual hug from me as you read this.

Hoping my virtual hug conveys ALL my appreciation!

John has had a queue since he accepted his first customer quilt in August 2017 and he always counted that a blessing. I do as well because having that work in front of me made me keep moving forward. I have yet to say “I’m back” but new work continues to find me and I have learned why John enjoyed running a long arm so much. There’s such a joy to bringing someone’s quilt top to life! They have made a beautiful top that has a story and a person it’s going to and TGQ gets to be a part of that. It is so rewarding and somewhat addictive 😊 John trained me in early 2019 when we received word a biopsy wasn’t good. I quilted 30 or so quilts. I loved piecing and he loved quilting, so I drifted back to my domestic machine and he to the ol’ dusty loom. When we got the definitive bad news in November 2021, I asked the woman who trained him if I could have a refresher with her. She kindly agreed and between John and myself, we got the Christmas quilts finished in time. After John died, I knew I needed more training and did a nine-hour “one-on-one intensive” one day in May and several days of Gammill sponsored training in July. The quilt count for 2022 was 193 quilts! John did one custom quilt, Ruth’s darling dragon quilt, and I did the rest. I’m so behind on social media to share the beautiful work, but that will change – I promise. So this explains the “quilting” part of the title Quilting Bea title of this journal entry.

We had to say bye to our old brindle boxer in August 2020 and knew we needed another. Our white boxer, Lulu, really grieved, as did we. Anyone who has had boxers know how they steal your heart.

Buddies since Day 1 and cozied up here in 2019.

It took a while, but June of 2021 another brindle found her way to us. We named her Beatrice, meaning “bringer of joy”, and she has been just that. She was an easy puppy and Lulu was so happy to have a buddy again. Bea did really well as things changed at home. Lulu knew something was happening, but Bea was too new and just so happy go lucky. She, indeed, made us smile and brought us joy. Any of you who have met her know she’s a precocious one! The photo below was one evening when I was letting family know an update, I thought she was with John and he thought she was with me. I walked out to see a white orb floating. She dropped it when I turned the light on.

“This roll of toilet paper was *BEGGING* me to play with it!” - Beatrice

Some of you may also know Lulu was really more John’s dog, so Beatrice being 11 months old when John died, she did her job - she kept Lulu distracted by being 100% boxer puppy. She kept me moving, too. At that age, a lot of energy and we walked A LOT. Below is post walk.

Most likely after a good walk in Forest Park Summer 2022.

By June I knew I was walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain with my days covering 12 to 18 miles per day, so they walked with me for some of my training. One day as we walked, I thought, “If I had known what was coming, I wouldn’t have said yes to a pup”, but then it hit me, she was exactly what we all needed to get through what we didn’t know was coming. She was so content to be by John’s side, she was thrilled to play with Lulu, and she made me laugh with her antics - even when she TP’d us!

Below is the cover photo for this entry showing Beatrice all comfy laying on batting. Given she did such a great job getting Lulu and me to the one-year anniversary of losing John, “Bea” is in the title of this journal entry.

I think most everyone knew St Patrick’s Day was a high holy day for us. We didn’t quilt, we went to the Hibernian Parade in Dogtown every year. For many years, John bid on an area where we could watch the parade and host friends and family. For those reading this and not from St Louis, this is an annual parade, sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians and always held on the 17th. It began in 1984 to highlight the many contributions of the Irish people to America. I like to think John contributed much in his 62 years on this earth and decided the tradition would continue, just a little differently. This year we joined friends to watch from their front yard on the parade route, we were on Channel 5 news, and got such a haul from those in the parade showering “goodies” on us. The parade marshal, also a friend of ours, was a 100-year-old resident of Dogtown. She kicked the parade off in style and enjoyed every minute of it. In all, there were 92 floats, firetrucks, women on Harley’s (made me miss mine), Irish dancers, clans, music, etc. marching along Tamm Avenue and everyone was Irish and enjoying themselves. It was a great day recognizing the Irish history and culture in St Louis as well as remember John’s pride in his Irish heritage, and his love of family, friends, and a good Guinness. I’ve not gone through this year’s photos, but below is a snap with some of our clan in 2019. Two days after we returned home from Australia and New Zealand, nine months before a bad biopsy result, and a year before the world shut down.

This year National Quilting Day fell on the 18th but no quilting at TGQ! The day was spent with one of John’s daughters and her family who always came in for the parade. We went to the Magic House plus a few of our traditional stops before ending the day at CityPark for the St Louis City SC match against San Jose Earthquakes. We have season tickets and as we were headed there, John’s daughter mentioned every game John took her to was always dramatic and a win so she knew that evening would be no different. Well, it began with snow falling and ended with a shutout! Such a fun night watching this new team go 4-0-0!! She was right!!!!

Sold out house before start. Falling snow doesn’t show in photo.

So, while St Patrick’s Day was different this year, just as much of the last year was different, it was also much the same. Those of us who could be together were and we enjoyed every moment of the weekend. I quilted as much as I could and I recalled last year one of his daughters said his dying on St Pat’s was poetic, really his final gift to us. St Patrick’s Day was a day he so enjoyed and future St Patrick’s Day will have a touch of sadness but will quickly be replaced by happy thoughts and memories of John on “his” day. In typical fashion, he was thinking of us, always the gentleman. And we did have a fun year and felt him with us. He would be proud of us.

However before I close, I’d like to share an interesting start to St Patrick’s Day 2023. It always starts early to get everything and everyone loaded and over to Dogtown. As usual, I had the radio on as I prepped and it happened to be playing Irish music for the 24-hour period Friday, the 17th. The song I heard at the same time of morning I said goodbye to John last year was “The Parting Glass”. I’ve never heard this song before. I’m not sure who sang the version I heard as I was too knocked over by the lyrics. I do know it was a man and if you have time to listen, here is a link with Hozier performing it live:

Hozier - The Parting Glass (Live from the Late Late Show) - Bing video

John was particular when downloading the cover of a favorite song from iTunes. He would search and listen to samples until he found just the right artist that suited him. Hozier is a young Irishman who hails from County Wicklow and I think John would have chosen this version of the song if he were here. He always preferred the live version of music versus all the perfection of mixing. If you don’t have time to listen, the parting words just really hit home with me:

But since it falls unto my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I’ll gently rise and I’ll softly call

Good night and joy be to you all

In John’s case, the “good night” in the last verse was “goodbye” as he gently took his leave of this earth early on St Patrick’s Day 2022 . To hear it EXACTLY a year later at EXACTLY the same time of day --- it still leaves me reeling.

I’ll close with my favorite photo of John. This was taken in Antarctica Christmas night 2011. Always looking forward, always ready for whatever was coming next, that was John. As a side note, a few days later we dove into that icy water! If you aren’t living on the edge you’re just taking up space, right?

Christmas evening 2011 atop our ship with whales chasing each other around us. Magical.

The Gentleman Quilter is missed every day, I’m so glad he had five plus years of doing something he truly loved and met so many great people. Toast John some time after reading this and Happy Quilting. Oh, and give me a hug when you see me. Most likely I’ll still need it.