Mending

There was an awesome essay from the "This I Believe" series on NPR this morning. It was about mending. Literally, mending--darning socks, repairing tears in clothing. But of course it was so much more. If you are someone appreciating the comfort and poignancy in attending to small details, you should have a listen. Here are some of my favorite lines:

Mending something is different from fixing it. Fixing it suggests that evidence of the problem will disappear. I see mending as a preservation of history and a proclamation of hope. When we mend broken relationships, we realize that we're better together than apart, and perhaps even stronger for the rip and the repair.

Mending doesn't say, "This never happened." It says instead..."Something or someone was surely broken here, but...it will rise to new life."

The essay is by Susan Cooke Kittredge, daughter of radio commentator Alastair Cooke. Check it out.