And so it begins……..
I have contemplated on where to start for a while now. I think most followers and customers often want to know what inspired small businesses to start up, so I will just start there. In May of 2020, my dearest friend, my mom was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. I was employed full time as a paralegal for a local Attorney who practiced primarily in the areas of criminal and family law. I believe at this time we were working remotely but that timeline gets a little fuzzy. I contacted my boss as soon as a diagnosis was given for my mother and prepared him for the long road ahead, he, without skipping a beat told me to just continue working from home remotely so that I could be with my mom at all of her appointments and let’s face it, be with her until she wasn’t here with us on Earth anymore. Because of the pandemic and the fact that mom had a terminal lung disease my husband and I agreed that it would be best for us to limit contact with others which included keeping my children on the remote learning path. Every morning my children and I would wake up and head to my mom’s house to start our day. I would work and help the kids as needed with schoolwork, while trying to juggle making sure we had all the information possible about mom’s diagnosis. I have been an advocate for family for years when it comes to the healthcare system (which I will write more about in another post), and I knew that if we didn’t take control and make sure everything was followed up on regarding mom’s health she would very easily slip through the cracks. It was definitely exhausting but I would not trade it for the world. Mom and I have always spent our down time together by crafting. Every year both her and I had a different theme for our Christmas trees, we would start in about August making Christmas ornaments together for our trees. She also tried to teach me every craft she knew, quilting, crocheting, painting, blinging, literally all the things. While she was sick she took up dot painting, I did not have the knack for it like she did, so I took up macrame. Mom thought it was hilarious that I enjoyed macrame so much because it was one of the first crafts she did “back in the day.” As the year progressed so did her disease and the heartbreak that goes with it. She would sit at the kitchen table and dot paint all day long to keep her mind busy, and if I had a break I would keep my mind busy with macrame. One day mom looked around and said, “Little Bit, what are we going to do with all this stuff?” We are both busy bodies and had an awful lot of product with not the first thought of what we were actually going to do with all of it, we just did it for mental health. So I looked into it, and we each opened our own Etsy shop. In May of 2021 mom’s health declined to the point that I could no longer concentrate on my work I was unable to give my employer 110%. He had been so patient with me and worked with me so I could stay with mom and the kids, it was just not fair to him for me to stay on his payroll. So I resigned. Him and I still talk weekly, he is one of my very good friends. Mom passed less than one month after my resignation. My world crumbled around me, I fell into and probably still am in a state of depression. However, I am still able to make pretty things and offer them for sale. I have been very blessed with great customers and family which has allowed me to stay home and grieve while still feeling needed.
more to come……
