The Invisible Thread

We went to visit my grandparents once a week through my teenage years, generally on Sunday. In fact, it was quite the ritual, we would go up Sunday afternoon, visit, order pizzas for supper, and then play cards into the evening. Hand 'n' Foot was our preferred game, but that’s another story.

One visit in particular, Granddad was obviously troubled. With a twinkle in his eye, he told us of the impending shopping trip Grammy had planned. He wasn’t sure how it was all going to work out, and was fairly upset. You see, Grammy had told him she needed to go to the store, and pick up some invisible thread. “I don’t know how we will know where to find it. I’m not sure how we will know when we have it. Will we need to pay for it? And if so, how can we be sure what we are really getting? White thread, that we have done no problem, black, and even looked for just the right brown or blue. But invisible? I just don’t know…”

Of course, invisible thread is used in quilting, to quilt together your top and bottom fabrics. My grandmother is renowned for her beautiful, hand-stitched quilts. In our family a tied quilt doesn’t exist. I am certain Granddad had not only seen the invisible thread before, but probably gone with her to buy it. But that was the kind of gentle, teasing man he was. He latched on to the strange sound of it, and ran with it for about fifteen minutes straight.