Reading glasses swinging back and forth, dangling from a drug store string slung around my neck I said, to myself of course, I never want to wear this kind of thing. But now I do, sometimes. I like the idea of relaxing, being a comfortable woman of the home, swinging open the door in a batik housedress, casually welcoming someone in, pets or as the French say, animals for company, something like that. As if pets had no other reason to be. Years of watching women folding, unfolding, refolding socks, sheets, dinner napkins, a lot happens in those moments of freshly laundered piles heaped onto the sofa, better the dining room table as long as it’s clean of course. My grandparents hung it all out in the sun, flopping away without a care, ironing sheets was necessary. When my paternal grandmother died, the very night she passed over the clothesline, into the black heavens sprinkled with sequins of silver, she came to me in a dream. I stood at a table folding clothes, I became aware that there was someone next to me folding as well. I first recognized her hands, red and wrinklie, with age spots. “Nanny?” I didn’t look toward her; she said in her most comforting southern way, “Don’t be afraid.” Then I turned toward the left looking up, up, up, and there she was all in white, a long crisp gown, fresh and smiling. “I love you.” She’d spoke. Then she was gone.
All the years of tucking my family’s socks into little balls, checking that stains from homemade baby food I’d pureed had come out of small cotton onesies with tiny bunnies or kittens, animals for company, it made sense. In what now is the sublime, separating socks and time; when squabbles were over who goes first, or if my husband, or uncle, made the turkey or if we should just call it off; a time when potty training toddlers, house training doggies, trying to read a poem in a magazine, or take a coffee in the sun turned like the minute hand on the clock. To steal a moment of memories of everyone, of how it should be now, could have been then, what regrets were tossed in amongst the years, folding, unfolding. For a pause, a place within one single minute a sense of calmness, falls over me; the windows need washing and there’s a time for that.
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Comments (21)
Congrats!
Congrats on Top Story!🥳🥳🥳
Something similar happened when my own grandmother passed. Poignant, Rock.Well done, and congrats !!
Amazing congratulations, can you read mine also?
Such a beautiful tribute of the minute it takes to recall a loved one. Very unique and heartfelt read.
OMG - First, CONGRATULATIONS!! Second - the line about many passing over the clothesline and the description of the sky were Fantastically Fabulous. This entire poem is unusual, down-to-earth and real, a heart-tugger. ❤️😍😍😍
Beautiful!!!! Couldn’t take my eyes away!!
gorgeous writing ROCK! Congrats on your TOP STORY!
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Remember those sheets on the line and once dry ironing them, this is so lovely and nostalgic!!!💕❤️❤️
I got the dreamlike quality of this, almost mesmeric, like seeing something through gauzy sheets. I liked the way it made me feel.
Congrats on the TS.
This was so calming like a lavender wind hitting me! 🌟🥰👌
congratulations on TS. This is SO beautiful and precious. I wish my Nanny would visit me more often. When she does, she usually just sits in her chair and smiles.
Congrats on T.S.
What a feel good enjoyable read. This really hit the spot Congratulations
Oh I loved that dream! Such a wonderful story!
I can smell those clean sheets now!
This is such a beautiful story. Well done.
passed over the clothesline, into the black heavens sprinkled with sequins of silver. I love this line so much. Such a fantastic visual. Years and years summed up in a minute
Clocks try to corral the infinite, but they fail. Very nice, ROCK. A beautiful reflection on nothing that is, simultaneously, so important.