Fifty years ago, on May 22, we moved in with the Robersons. My inner child still can’t quite believe how old we are, so I showed her a Burlap Art project that was the last thing I made with my Dad.
I told her about all the stuff we used to work on together, like bleeding the brakes on the car, refinishing furniture, reloading shotgun shells, and mowing the lawn. In fact, the very first thing we made together was a Big Bertha model rocket that we shot off at his school. We’ve created many happy memories together over the years.
In 2009, while my family was living in Brazil, I conceived the idea for a burlap art project inspired by the answer to a question I had posed to the Universe. “What am I supposed to be doing with all this energy?”
The word Cultivate came to mind in Big letters. Then these words flowed through: joy, courage, hope, faith, love, and peace. I pulled together my art supplies and decided to use a pocket from my jeans to carry the words. I called my Dad, who was still living in California, and asked him to make these tags for me. He had made lots of stamped leather things back in the day, so I knew this wouldn’t be too difficult.
However, this was the beginning of his dementia journey, and it took a lot more effort ( phone calls, emails, and drawings) to get him to understand what I wanted. But it worked!!! He did it! Daddy made these leather tags for me, each one he stamped by hand, and then he sent them to me all the way down to South America.
I remember calling him to say thank you when they arrived. I was so thrilled to see how they pulled the whole project together.
Dad apologized because a few of the tags had minor mistakes, including “misses” and letters slightly out of place. I told him they were perfect, and I was so grateful that he made them.
Then I embellished them with tassels and beads and put them in my pocket.
Now, as I look at this project hanging on the wall behind me in the kitchen and show it to little Pam, we can feel the love and creativity, 
the connection we still have to Daddy. I actually love seeing those little “mistakes” on the tags because they remind me of the effort and devotion he put into making them for me.
“People may not always remember what you’ve said, or did, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou