Smoky Mountain Colors

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Good Bye Doris

The other day I got the news that a fellow knitter had passed away. Doris Strong. I met Doris through karate. I've known her son Bill, since 1982 and he is my kids Sensei and a dear friend.

Doris was born and raise in Germany, married an American soldier and supported him in everything he did. They were stationed back and forth between the US and Germany many, many times. Ed (her husband) is retired military and highly decorated. They have two children Cathy and of course Bill. The things I will always remember about Doris, her complete devotion to her family, her cooking, her love of St. Bernards and of course her knitting. Every time I seen her she had those needles going. At the time I was still a "throwing my yarn and of course she was doing German, and I loved watching her stitch by stitch. The few times I had a chance to talk to her about knitting she was so encouraging. Sharing stories with me of things she knitted for her family in Germany when she was young. In fact she was my encouragement to start knitting socks. She told me "Oh they are so easy you can do it." That's all it took and I've been knitting stocks non stop ever since. But there is one thing she did with her knitting that I will always remember, she made slippers. She made tons of slippers for men, women and children. Then she gave them away. I don't even know if her family knows how many slippers she gave away, but it had to be a lot.

Yesterday, draped over her coffin was a beautiful afghan she had made, it was so appropriate for a knitter. Today everyone will say their final good byes to her. She will be taken in the near future to Arlington Cemetery in DC for her final resting place.

Good bye Doris

3 comments:

Jackie said...

Sorry to hear about your loss. What a touching tribute.

Sheepish Annie said...

She sounds like a very special lady and one who impacted many lives. I am sorry for your loss.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely tribute to your friend. I'm sure you will miss her.