The 'Carolyn' socks

A very good and dear friend of my mother-in-law passed away on May 28th. She'd battled cancer for six years; that is a long time to fight anything, let alone a disease that is deadly stealthy and debilitating. Carolyn was the most serene person I'd ever met. She was just so at peace with herself and the world around her. She was a foster mother to thirty five children, and permanently adopted the ones she could. I could say nothing to comfort my mother-in-law over the loss of her friend, but I'm a knitter, so what you see above is my outpouring of prayer... the sock knitter's version of a 'prayer shawl'. The yarn is significant only in that it was a birthday gift from a dear friend of mine and Carolyn and I shared a birthday, so it is tied to her birth day as well. The socks look simple; they are in fact a very straightforward, mindless knitting pattern, necessary to their purpose. For in these socks I am putting my hopes and prayers, for every family ravaged by illness, torn and broken by diseases they cannot hope to combat. My prayers for strength, and fortitude, for courage, and for peace. Hope goes into these socks, as well. Hope for a new treatment, a new insight about the illness, a miracle. If that hope should fail, there exists in these socks the prayer for the family to find happiness in the memory of the loved one who lost the fight... that joy will return and the memories will bring comfort and smiles, and laughter, when once there were only tears and sorrow. Mr. Cieczka, my family and I are so sorry for the loss of Carolyn. She will not be forgotten, and I have the (nearly finished) birthday socks to prove it. Camilla