Square No 3

Well, another day another post..........I am on a roll! And here we are square number 3, this is Milly's square, my youngest daughter, we looked at many websites at fabrics and she found one called Amelia, her given name. It is the one with flowers and birds on, bottom right of the square. This fabric could have been designed with Amelia in mind. She is a sunny child, full of energy and determination. She is named after my Grandmother Emelia, or Mela Kaciniel. The moment Milly was born I knew that was the name for her, she lay in my arms in the delivery room with big big eyes looking all around her as if to say, ah yes here I am. My Grandmother Emelia, I called Babcia as she was Polish. She died when I was eight, her English was limited and a great sadness for me is that I didn't get to know her. Her life was incredible, her family were all deported from Poland to Siberia in February 1941. She had four young children, they could take what they could carry, Djadek (my Grandfather) and Babcia made a home in a Siberian camp, she nursed and he worked in the salt mines so they could get food, but mostly they starved. One tale is of Babcia making soup out of herbs she thought she knew, but they had a sedative effect on the children who slept for a day after eating it. From Siberia, they trekked to India, Iran, and across to Rhodesia, most of this on her own with the three youngest children, my grandfather and father joined the Free Polish Army. There are so many tales to tell, but I shall leave them for another time.

So, this square is from Amelia to Jess, she helped with some of the stitching and the embroidery of her name. She has missed her big sister a great deal, despite the 7 year age gap they are very close. I am so thankful for Skype so they can talk when they like, and Milly took great delight in having her home for Christmas. I always wanted a sister, as I think the intimacy of that relationship can never be replicated as there are so many shared memories and experiences that only siblings can have. I hope they are always close, and make sure they find time for one another as their lives grow away from this home.