Wendy Golden-Levitt is a mensch who works with children using Jungian principles and … wait for it … cloth. Back in the day I sent two quilts her way. She commissioned one and the second (the crow) was a gift. Many readers of this blog also made cloth contributions.
I recently received a couple of emails from Wendy where she describes the impact my cloths have had on a particular child. I share the story below.
First, I have Wendy’s permission to share this. And J’s mother’s permission.
Second, until I was about twelve, everybody called me DeeDee.
Third, the heart-felt entreaties made by ten-year-old J. both uplift me and break my heart. It’s worth your time to read all her words.
Wendy quoted below. Sorry about the spacing. Some quirk I don’t think I can easily fix.
I also started seeing children again. here in my very tiny apartment. One of the older children I worked with for several years enjoyed working with your cloths. Her family was in Toronto for five years and returned to NYC this year. Long story short… she wanted to come here to “work on a couple of things.”
J., 10 years old, walked into my second bedroom and looked at me and said: “Where the heck are DD’s cloths?” They call you DD. I told her I had not unpacked them yet. But they were in a huge storage bin, sitting in my second bathroom bathtub. She insisted we look for them. And we did. We found Samantha the Crow cloth first. She grabbed it and said, “Good thing you didn’t lose this because I would have been very mad and have to start therapy again.”
She had a long talk with Samantha (what the kids call the crow). She lay on the floor, holding the cloth above her, and talked. Here are some of the things she said.
“Samantha. There is a problem in the place we live. We got a president who is making me scared to be a brown girl. I don’t know what to do. I want to play a lot. But I can’t. I am scared I will be taken away.
You are our crow girl. Can you do something? Can you make it safe for us? I want to learn the things you know. Because you fly. Because Wendy told me you carried fire and other things to help make the world in the very beginning. You know how to build, to count. You have a lot you can teach us kids.You have a whole world under you. (Referring to the different cloth squares you stitched underneath the crow). So I know you can help us. I want to not be afraid. I want to build something new like you. I want to also be safe like you know how to do. I want both. I want to make stuff. I think if you help us kids make stuff again, we could be okay.
Samantha? I want to walk in the nature centre near me and take my shoes off and look for you. I know with my shoes on you will not know me. But with my shoes off and grass and stuff on my feet you will know me. I want to meet you. Wendy says I can. Either at the nature centre or as a surprise. Or in my dreams. Please guide me and the other kids.”
And below is a second email about a second visit.
J. was back yesterday. Here is a poem she wrote during our session….with your crow (Samantha) cloth:
“I am black like the crow. I shimmer like the crow’s feathers in the sun.
I lay on top of DD’s cloth to let strong powerful energy into me. I lay on my back. It is important Samantha (crow) protects my back. My heart goes from front to back side to side.
I am finding ways to be okay even though I feel scared I will not be seen anymore, even though I have dark skin. The president you can tell has never worked with DD’s cloth.
I will learn with the squares underneath Samantha the crow how to build real love, real strong muscles of my heart. I will learn from DD how to speak and say “You will never make me a slave again.”
You could show this to DD if she is alive and wants to see it.”
Wendy: There is something in your cloths that resonates with both the effort of suffering and the effort of healing. The kids feel it. So do I.
Description of making Samantha here and Treasure Island Quilt and crow here.
I sit here with a heart that is breaking but also uplifted at the same time by J’s words, her powerful, poem and Samantha, the crow, your creation, that has led to connection and continued strength and healing. Your deep sense of empathy and caring, so readily manifested in these quilts. I did not know you during the time you made these quilts so I followed your links and was not at all surprised at the careful, considerate choice of cloth for texture, for comfort, in them. You have done the same in words, in your novel. If ever you had doubts during the 12 years that it took you to bring The Weight of Cloth to reality, here is one tangible sign that it was meant to be for nothing is random and much in life is so connected:
Wendy’s words: “There is something in your cloths that resonates with both the effort of suffering and the effort of healing. The kids feel it. So do I.”
As I did not only when seeing your cloths but in reading your novel.
Dee this is such a beautiful story. Thank you. We all need to sit under the crow and contemplate the way ahead. There is magic in your cloth. I holds answers and wisdom and home. 🧡
Such a perfect time for Wendy and you to share this wonderful story.
Wishing you and everyone a Thanksgiving filled with love, gratitude, and the spirit of giving. The gift of giving knows no bounds—it’s a gift that enriches both the giver and the receiver.
To you and all who visit here … Blessings Always.
Tina
Dee~ I’ve been here more than once through this day and still I feel speechless. The wisdom of this 10 year old that half the adults across the country can not see. The expression about a need to be seen, safe and able to build and love. In her own way, she has woven a Loving Kindness Meditation to herself, others and our troubled world.
We should listen to the children. ❤️
Oh my oh my. I’ve been waiting for a chance to read this in full,and reply, while at my laptop (because my phone betrays me frequently).
What @nancy said! I had that response too and I couldn’t describe it better. What a jewel of an experience in the coming together of the hearts and minds of DD, this 10 year old, and Wendy. Oh, and the cloth, and the crow. xxxxx
Absolutely. I love the reel I watched a couple of times today of Maya Angelou… it begins: “the trouble for the thief is not how to steal the chief’s bugle but where to blow it”
It was so generous of Wendy to share J’s story about the Samantha cloth with you. She has also told another story about a cloth Grace made featuring her dog Tay and the powerful effect it had on another of her children. The combined effect on me is to emphasize the multiple ways cloth can hold and transmit feelings, symbols, and meanings, often in ways quite different from what was intended or expected. I tend to feel that what I make is not important, but then these kinds of stories show that there is another level of communication that is released when I (or you, or Grace, or any of the incredible artists who read your blog) gather our thoughts, our materials and our skills and attempt to “make things” as J says. All our choices and every stitch say something deeper than may be apparent on the surface and sensitive people can feel that, as Wendy’s children demonstrate. Every cloth has the weight (The Weight of Cloth?) of history and the human need to express truth, beauty and self in the things they create. J clearly responded to the feelings you imparted to your Samantha cloth, as well as the legends Wendy told her about crows and their long association with human beings. I cried when I realized that she is drawing from a deep well of images, effort and emotion as she tries to respond to the fears and events of the present. Congratulations on providing her with a bridge between the moment and the reservoir of meaning inherent in human history. Your work always exemplifies our craving for love and justice.
I love that you took the time to express your thoughts about this Dana and I do think there are similarities with your lovingly constructed table linens and settings.
You have a whole world under you. (Referring to the different cloth squares you stitched underneath the crow). So I know you can help us. I want to not be afraid. I want to build something new like you. I want to also be safe like you know how to do. I want both. I want to make stuff. I think if you help us kids make stuff again, we could be okay.
Just ❤️
Oh, Dee…..
There are no words.
No. Fucking. Words.
Big enough, right enough.
💔
🪶🖤🐦⬛
That last was from Jen…(& Why does it say I need to sign up to receive this in an email (& therefore comment) when I AM signed up to receive?! Lol
Who the fuck knows. I ask people now just to sign their comments. Sorry.
I sit here with a heart that is breaking but also uplifted at the same time by J’s words, her powerful, poem and Samantha, the crow, your creation, that has led to connection and continued strength and healing. Your deep sense of empathy and caring, so readily manifested in these quilts. I did not know you during the time you made these quilts so I followed your links and was not at all surprised at the careful, considerate choice of cloth for texture, for comfort, in them. You have done the same in words, in your novel. If ever you had doubts during the 12 years that it took you to bring The Weight of Cloth to reality, here is one tangible sign that it was meant to be for nothing is random and much in life is so connected:
Wendy’s words: “There is something in your cloths that resonates with both the effort of suffering and the effort of healing. The kids feel it. So do I.”
As I did not only when seeing your cloths but in reading your novel.
Thank you Marti.
Dee this is such a beautiful story. Thank you. We all need to sit under the crow and contemplate the way ahead. There is magic in your cloth. I holds answers and wisdom and home. 🧡
I found it very moving too. You can hear in j’s words such a back and forth with Wendy and such a foundation of trust.
It was supposed to say It holds answers. Not I. I have none.
Such a perfect time for Wendy and you to share this wonderful story.
Wishing you and everyone a Thanksgiving filled with love, gratitude, and the spirit of giving. The gift of giving knows no bounds—it’s a gift that enriches both the giver and the receiver.
To you and all who visit here … Blessings Always.
Tina
You are a sweetheart, Tina!
Wow.
Dee~ I’ve been here more than once through this day and still I feel speechless. The wisdom of this 10 year old that half the adults across the country can not see. The expression about a need to be seen, safe and able to build and love. In her own way, she has woven a Loving Kindness Meditation to herself, others and our troubled world.
We should listen to the children. ❤️
Indeed.
So wonderful. And you and your talent and caring were the impetus for it all.
Thank you Doris.
affirmation is such a gift
Yes it is. And this one was well timed.
Oh my oh my. I’ve been waiting for a chance to read this in full,and reply, while at my laptop (because my phone betrays me frequently).
What @nancy said! I had that response too and I couldn’t describe it better. What a jewel of an experience in the coming together of the hearts and minds of DD, this 10 year old, and Wendy. Oh, and the cloth, and the crow. xxxxx
I think about all the Black and brown children in our country and how they might be feeling now.
Absolutely. I love the reel I watched a couple of times today of Maya Angelou… it begins: “the trouble for the thief is not how to steal the chief’s bugle but where to blow it”
It was so generous of Wendy to share J’s story about the Samantha cloth with you. She has also told another story about a cloth Grace made featuring her dog Tay and the powerful effect it had on another of her children. The combined effect on me is to emphasize the multiple ways cloth can hold and transmit feelings, symbols, and meanings, often in ways quite different from what was intended or expected. I tend to feel that what I make is not important, but then these kinds of stories show that there is another level of communication that is released when I (or you, or Grace, or any of the incredible artists who read your blog) gather our thoughts, our materials and our skills and attempt to “make things” as J says. All our choices and every stitch say something deeper than may be apparent on the surface and sensitive people can feel that, as Wendy’s children demonstrate. Every cloth has the weight (The Weight of Cloth?) of history and the human need to express truth, beauty and self in the things they create. J clearly responded to the feelings you imparted to your Samantha cloth, as well as the legends Wendy told her about crows and their long association with human beings. I cried when I realized that she is drawing from a deep well of images, effort and emotion as she tries to respond to the fears and events of the present. Congratulations on providing her with a bridge between the moment and the reservoir of meaning inherent in human history. Your work always exemplifies our craving for love and justice.
I love that you took the time to express your thoughts about this Dana and I do think there are similarities with your lovingly constructed table linens and settings.
Thank you so much for sharing this Dee. To be scared and to continue is something we’re all going to have to work with. Beth
Yes. The wisdom in that. In a ten year old.
Wow