Needlepoint Grace

My mother-in-law is creating a wall hanging. And it has a story.

Nine cross-stitched squares each bearing a Looney Tune character(s), lay on her kitchen table. Daffy Duck, Roadrunner, Wylie Coyote, and others speak of a happier time in the life of Beth, a homeless woman. An alcoholic, she perhaps created this needlework while pregnant with one of her children. Maybe she carefully stitched each square while she was in rehab, seeking deliverance from the "demon in the bottle." Or, maybe her life was normal long enough for her to create these works of art. Regardless of when they were made, Beth hung onto them, taking great care to preserve them.

Careful and colorful, the stitches belie the harsh life she lived under a bridge. Beth's years on this earth ended in a harsher manner, by being beaten to death.

So why write a blog about a wall hanging my mother-in-law will create out of these nine squares? Or, about a woman whose life was so tragic? Well, because I see God's grace mingled in the threads of this artwork. Apparent-
ly, Beth was not always drunk; she was creative and had great skill. And, this wall hanging is a gift of love from my mother-in-law to Beth's children. Perhaps it will be the only possession they will have to remind them of their mother. Beth's story also reminds me that, but for the grace of God, there go I.
(Some of the details of this story have been changed.)