#adhd creatives

it’s such a shame I spent so many years thinking I was “too stupid” to learn new skills. I was taught how to knit at a young age by grandmother but never got beyond a basic scarf (though she would be happy to teach me whatever I asked) because I assumed anything beyond the basics would be too much for my brain.

this is a long post about my friend Priscilla, dishcloths, and friends who make things. ✨

Priscilla passed last summer. I have had so very much to say about her. I’ve fit what I could fit into my journals, but there is no time to summarize the hilarious, maddening way our relationship was, or how special it was (and is) to me. by the time I heard that she died, the funeral had already happened, so I didn’t have the chance to sit and talk with other people who knew her. instead when I found all of this out, I took walks alone, scoured my phone and old journals for stories and things she said, laughed a whole bunch, and reflected on my gratitude for having seen her one last time in 2020.

a few years ago I had gone to her house to learn how to braid rugs. we didn’t get very far - she was flustered my left-handedness, but determined to flip things in her mind so she could teach me. I would laugh and tell her I could easily switch hands, but she would always shut me up. we only got a little work done before the lesson was abandoned. we had a good day just the same and she sent me away with the stuff I needed to keep going at home. I hung onto her rug-braiding supplies longer than I meant to, and in 2020 I was making space for Mundy and decided it was time to bring it back. I brought it by the switchboard one afternoon and she was there, crocheting as she often was. we talked for a minute about life, work, the baby, my giant belly. when it was time for me to go, she offered me one of her dishcloths, and no, there was no way in all heck she was letting me walk away without one. I’m really glad she did that.

over the last two days I made my first, second and third dishcloth, all the while considering Priscilla, and the tiny bit of her 80-some-odd years on earth that went into this thing that I care for my home with. she is still bringing goodness into my life.