Birthday Baggage

 

When you have Baggage,

 Well go make a bag!

I celebrated my birthday over the weekend. Birthdays have always been a struggle. A trigger in many ways. Nevertheless, I decided to do something a little bit different this year!

Celebrate It!

Afterall this is not just another day, but a reminder of where I've been—and how far I've come!

My local quilt store Sew Chaotic even opened up their shop so we could celebrate and create a day of new memories!

I cannot begin to tell you how above and beyond Cathy Vance Warner and her daughter Jenn Vaughan went for me! 

Since I knew the day would be a bit overwhelming, I invited only a few people that know my PTSD journey.

Trauma doesn’t just vanish. It lingers in the body, in the quiet moments, in the way we flinch at kindness, open birthday gifts from friends for the first time, or brace ourselves for disappointment in life that is often out of our control. 

But healing isn’t about forgetting. It’s about reclaiming. About choosing softness where we once built walls, about learning to stay when we want to run.

This year, my friends Diane, Rose, Robbi, Susan, Carol, and Kathrine and I learned to make a bag! The class was taught by Lynne Daconta.

You see everyone has baggage. It is what you do with it that matters! I realized: making this bag is an act of power. Of grounding. Of saying, 

“I am here. I am still standing. I am creating.”

The birthday is a bonus. Not a celebration of age, but of endurance. Of survival. Of growth.

To anyone who’s carrying their pain quietly while still showing up, still creating, still dreaming—I see you.

Healing doesn’t always look like therapy sessions and breakthroughs. Sometimes it looks like crafting something beautiful on your birthday. Sometimes it looks like making a bag with those that care about you.

And that’s enough.

 

Birthday Cardinals

 

 Cardinals

 

This past few weeks, I have been enjoying the winter birds in our back yard. Among them are the cardinals. I often get a giggle from the blue jays and woodpeckers that tend to squabble over spots by our feeders.

I decided to create a male and female cardinal sun catcher in honor of my friend’s birthday. However, each bird had to be cut without a pattern which was a new skill attempt for me. I found this difficult.

 

 

My favorite part was applying the patina after I soldered the birds.

This pair of cardinals will make a lovely birthday gift since cardinals remind my friend of her parents.  Every time we see one we mention Grammie & Poppie. 

 

Handmade gifts just fill my soul with warmth and bring back special memories not only for those that I make them for but also for myself! 

" I saw a Cardinal in my tree,
The bright red color so beautiful to see.
Thoughts of loved ones brought a smile to my face,
As I watched it flitter about with grace.
Visitors from Heaven they are said to be,
I feel blessed that you came to visit me.”

Unknown

 

 

I tend to put a lot of thought into my gifts and creative adventures. 

Do you? 

Ginger