Day 26 of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - A Quick Chat with my Sewing Sisters, Deb & Susie

Today, it was all about friendship and how it's needed to lead a good life, especially if going through trials and tribulations. And, aren't we all at some point in our lives going through crazy trials and tough times?

It started with a little breakfast celebration to mark a Big Milestone Birthday for Deb Hoppe! We ate at one of our favorite little breakfast places in Annapolis, Maryland, and visited a couple of local quilt shops. We did what we love to do as sewing sisters - talked about our sewing projects, how we wanted to quilt them, and then oohed and aahed over the fabrics we'd like to buy and use in our ongoing projects. We have upcoming quilt retreats we'd like to discuss, as well as catching up on our non-sewing and quilting lives. The hours flew by, like how it goes when we are sitting at our sewing machines!

When I asked them if they wouldn't mind doing a CCAM video with me to highlight friendship and the way we help others through our quilting bees and guilds by donating to various entities (childhood cancer wards have been a biggie), quilts, they were all in. Phew!

Deb Hoppe surprised me by reading a poem (she had brought the book and everything, but didn't see it until we were almost ready to start filming!). The book, "The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days," is special to Deb, and now, by reading the poem "Friends that Hold Us Up," it is also special to us (I hope so; if not, it's another resource to check out to #helpothers). It's profound and powerful.

I can't thank Susie and Deb enough for their friendship - in both good times and not-so-good times.

I love how true friendship shows up like a patchwork quilt. It may be stitched together from different fabrics and seasons of our lives, but when the hard times come, it wraps warmth around us and holds us steady. Susie and Deb, along with many bee-mates and guild-mates, who have walked this long road with me, are reminders that none of us are meant to go through life’s battles alone. Whether it’s a cup of tea, a quilted project, a shared laugh, or simply showing up when the days are darkest, friendship has the power to lift us higher than we could ever climb by ourselves, bar none.

As Childhood Cancer Awareness Month nears its close next week, I’m reminded that awareness is more than facts and ribbons—it’s community and also the power of connection. It’s choosing to be a friend who shows up, holds space, and helps carry the weight to fight on when we have to.

Terri

Terri & Sewing Sisters: Deb Hoppe and Susie Stevenson