L U N A T A L K with Eva Moon

Traveling Clothes

October 24, 2007 on 9:27 am | In General Musing |

When I travel, I don’t do much souvenir shopping, but I like to collect patches from the places I go and sew them to a jacket. That jacket’s quite an ice-breaker when I wear it. There are three patches on it from places I haven’t been to myself, though: Nepal, Kathmandu and Antarctica. Those three patches are from my grandmother, as game a woman as ever lived.

She’s a remarkable person - optimistic, adventurous, independent and wholly devoted to her family. The jacket of her life is stitched with memories and buttoned up with love. Even when I neglect to call for weeks at a time, she never lays a guilt trip on me. There’s nothing but delight in her voice at the sound of mine. (Though of course, that’s even more effective at making me feel guilty.)

My father called last night to let me know she’s in hospice care and not eating. She’s getting ready to unbutton this jacket and lay it aside for one last journey. We talked on the phone. She’s still lucid - and able to crack a joke - but I can hear goodbye in her voice.

I’ve bought a plane ticket for next week. There won’t be a patch for my jacket this time. But her face will be stitched to my heart forever.

See more like that one:

• Disappearing/Reappearing Airport
• It's Like a Fish. But It's Not a Fish.
• I Married the Stevie Wonder of Japan
• Wag of the Tongue
• Wait Ten Minutes