My Old Gobbler patch jacket

[The Lung]

I thought some here might appreciate seeing what I've done with my patches and the story that goes with it.

My grandmother, whom I loved very much, had been in assisted living for the last couple years of her life. She passed away in March of '23. She loved to sew and made me and my family a lot of quilts, doll clothes, britches, and anything else she could.
In the twilight of her life, I visited with her often and would pick her up and take her to church as much as I could. Not every weekend, but I tried. I could tell she was bored where she lived and was always looking for things to do.
I got an idea to find an old camo jacket at the thrift store and have her sew a bunch of cool patches on it for me. When I visited one evening I brought a bag of patches and the jacket. She was very eager to get started and I could tell I had hit on a good idea.
I got really busy at work over he subsequent 3 weeks or so and wasn't able to take her to church or even visit. When I finally did visit, I opened the door and she was in tears with my jacket in her lap. Most of the patches had been sewed on. She told me in a shaky voice that her arthritis had been so bad she hadn't even been able to sew any of the patches on. She didn't want to tell me. She had paid another lady living down the hall from her $1 per patches to dew them on for me. She said she didn't want me to visit without having my jacket ready. She was heartbroken that she couldn't do it. I hugged her and told her it was perfectly fine. We visited for quite awhile and I took the jacket home, while slipping a $10 bill into her purse without noticing.

For the last 8 months of her life or so she was moved to memory care and gradually declined until she passed. She never forgot who I was and was always thrilled to see me. She loved to fish and garden as well as sew.

This jacket means a lot to me, even though she didn't personally sew the patches on. My wife is teaching me to sew to the rest of them on so that the project can finally be completed. I want her to be able to look down on me and smile with pride that her grandson wears that jacket and thinks of her.

[Tom007]

Heartfelt story, a nice way to remember her for sure.....thanks for sharing....

[JeffC]

Thanks for sharing, getting old sucks....

[captpete]

What a great way to remember her.

[3bailey3]

That's Awesome!

[OJR]

What a great story. Thank you.

[YoungGobbler]

Brought tears to my eyes.

[Zobo]

Sounds like you were a very good grandson to her and she loved you very much...a beautiful reminder of that special relationship

[310 gauge]

Being a Grandparent of six I can tell you even the little thoughts and deeds matter. It did to her then and more importantly to you now...

[Dr Juice]

Awesome story and memoir!

[Old Gobbler]

That's a incredibly touching story , thank you for sharing!!!

[Greg Massey]

Thanks for sharing the story with all of us ....

[aclawrence]

Very cool.  I'm glassed y'all got to spend the time together like that all the way to the end. I miss my granny.  My 13yr old daughter sews now and we're actually about to hem some of my pants here in just a minute.


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[NCL]

Great story. Very clever idea and thank you