Coffee With Mo..

It was the summer of 1968. I was 10 years old & it was my turn to stay with my grandparents for the 5th grade school year. They lived in Alexandria Virginia. I was a little nervous about going to the city school but wasn’t going to miss my turn to go.

Previously, we had been staying with my dad’s parents in the country of Southwestern Virginia about 350 miles south just across the West Virginia line in Bland county and I had attended only small country schools. 

Granny and Pa did not have a car. My grandparent’s lived just off telegraph road. They traveled by bus or received rides from friends heading in the same direction they might be going. 

The shopping center was about a mile and a half or less and shopping was convenient. I never really thought about it and felt it was special riding a bus like a city girl. My school was within walking distance; however, the church was a bit farther away. We rode with the preacher who lived next door. Pa was short for Grandpa. He was nicknamed by the oldest cousin Irv, on that side of the family. 

I must have gone to stay with them in Alexandria, a few weeks before school started, as I remember Vacation Bible School being held during the summer months. That is where my story unfolds. VBS was full of things to do for the entire week. There were always plenty of crafts scheduled to teach and keep the children busy. I can’t remember all the crafts we made that week but I certainly remember the basket 

We were to supposed to soak some reed and weave it in and out of the long pieces leading to the handle. I couldn’t seem to make all of the reeds fit correctly and I wanted it to be tight. I kept starting over hoping to get it to fit right. I wanted to take it home with me but I couldn’t figure out how to do it by myself and there were other things I wanted to do when I got home. Things like eating & challenging Granny to a game of Chinese Checkers.

Each day I would return to VBS & start again, trying to make it perfect. The teacher wanted me to move ahead to the next project. I started over time after time and did not get the basket finished by the end of the VBS that year. 

Granny told me it was important to complete it even if it was not perfect. She had become frustrated in her efforts to persuade me to finish the basket. I just couldn’t get it finished. My Granny Britten was my mom’s mother and I was always close to her. Somewhere around the mid-90s her words circled back to me again. Granny was still living although her health was failing. She had been moved to Kentucky to live with my aunt. The ladies at our church were going to meet to do a basket weaving class; imagine that. Here was my chance to complete a basket. I started a basket and once again, it was not completed. It stayed in a plastic bag with the reed until I could get to it.

During those years I was raising my own children and trying to teach them things that would help them in the world.   My 2^nd born son, Denny, who was about 10 years old, also in the fifth grade and striving to do his art projects just right. When report cards came home, I was surprised to see he had gotten less than an A in art. That was his favorite subject.

In talking with his teacher Mrs. Thompson, she indicated Denny did very good work but he couldn’t get his projects in on time. He kept starting over or taking too much time to make it the way he wanted it. Boy did that sound familiar. I talked with Denny and explained the importance of finishing a project even though it was not exactly the way he wanted. I explained this was just for him to learn how to do it and he could always fix it later, but if was important to complete the assignments in order to get the grade. Otherwise, it wouldn’t matter how good it looked. If it was late, his grade would end up being a D or possibly an F if it was incomplete. He did pretty much as I had and attempted to work faster but just couldn’t seem to hand in something that he wasn’t proud of. Now Granny’s words were pressing on me. I was telling him to do something because I knew it was important, because I had not yet completed my project.

It was not until sometime in the Years between 2010 and 2015 that I finally finished the basket. It is far from being a top-shelf project but when it was finished, I felt so accomplished. 

I finally came to realize 47 years later when I finally made and completed a simple imperfect basket, that it truly was rewarding to finish something and be proud of my accomplishment rather than avoid finishing it simply because I was unable to make it look the way someone with experience could make it look. 

We are in this school called “life”, and we are here to learn all sorts of things about ourselves and others. We are here to grow. Physically, mentally & spiritually. 

 Most of what we do will not be perfect the first or the last time we do it. 

I wanted to finish the basket to let Granny know I understood what she was saying & had finally finished what I started.  Due to demands of raising a family of boys and my own forgetfulness, I couldn’t get it finished before she passed away in 2000. 

Granny was about 17 years younger than that I am now. I am sure she has seen it from Heaven and smiled. This experience has become a powerful lesson for me. Finish what you start and don’t start something you aren’t going to complete. It also turned out to be a great teaching resource. Time does pass quickly.  Denny is now almost 40 years old he’s a manager in graphic arts for a sports design company. He & I have had the conversation just recently, but instead of finishing what you started our conversation is now about being patient with others who seem to take forever to finish what they have started.

Thank you, Granny, I love you. I found the book you did not complete. I now understand why it was so important to you that I not follow the same path.