03Jan13: An amazing gift from one of Shayna’s friends
Shayna and I met Terri Stevenson during our many visits to Bodo’s Bagels, across from UVa, a popular breakfast place with an outdoor patio, where I work on my laptop during the warm weather, while Shayna relaxes and gets treats after our romping around the campus. Terri became very fond of Shayna, and as she learned about her book, and the exciting odyssey we’ve been on, she told me that she’s also a fabric artist, specializing in what she calls “angel quilts.” I’m a “guy” – what would I know about “angel quilts”? But having been the beneficiary of an angel given to me by the forces that govern the cosmos, after such a long search… believe me, I don’t doubt anything spiritual anymore.
So one day, after learning of Shayna’s terrible diagnosis (hemangiosarcoma) in early November, Terri said she was going to make an angel quilt for her. I didn’t know what to make of it, but thought, if she wants to do something nice for Shayna, who am I to say no?
I didn’t hear anything for quite a while, and as winter had set in, we didn’t visit Bodos very often anymore.
Then, on January 2, I got a message from Terri that Shayna’s quilt is done and ready for pickup, that she’ll bring it to Bodos in the morning. As Shayna had had a few “bad” days, and as I was so stressed from that, and the holidays, I thought, well, I’ll go down and see what she did.
Here’s what she did:
Read Terri’s blog post on her quilt here. Excerpt:
With each visit to the website Jon was creating about Shayna, I could clearly see the love they hold for each other. Then, one day, an emotional Jon revealed to me midst the busy restaurant rush that Shayna was seriously ill. She would need expensive care and surgery, and he was in fundraising mode to make sure that happened.
Quite unexpectedly, a clear vision of a handmade quilt for my Angel Wing Series arose in my mind and with complete detail. That alone was rather startling, for it rarely seems to happen to me in quite that way. I knew in a heartbeat … I would make a set of handmade wings for Shayna. It was a certainty within my own heart that seemed to generate this vision.
Thank you, Terri. This is an amazing gift that I will never forget.