My mom taught me how to embroider. She was amazing at it and always loved to use her hands, which unfortunately are now too arthritic. I have wonderful memories of the two of us sitting side by side on lawn chairs in the backyard with our embroidery hoops, enjoying quiet solidarity as our needles poked through fabric. I’ve held on to piles of wool thinking I will do something with it, but it is a tangled mess and the rare times that I have stitched anything, I’ve used embroidery floss. I can let it go and keep the sweet memories of my mom and I intact.