What Mends My Soul

By

Cheryle Boyle

It comes in many sizes and a lot of people would be surprised by that; diameter as well as length. You can rest it in the palm of your hand and all is calm. Stand it upright and you wince and want to scream. Put it in a machine and it is driven faster than you can see. Misplace one and often you find it quickly when you take a step and want to instantaneously head to the ceiling. Use it to get a person’s attention walking in front of you, and they quickly hasten their step. A needle can bring pain, but often happiness. This commonly is the first tool offering an introduction to the craft of sewing.

These are the memories that I hold. A bunny, named Oscar, became “Ill.” He was in need of repair. A loving hand offered the solution. She took Oscar, as wonderment befell and I watched on. She reached for a tool, a needle, which was long but thin, and glistening in the sun. Taking her time, slowly she placed each stitch, and in each moment reassuring me and Oscar that life would be good as new. As she made that final stitch and sealed it with a knot, Oscar again smiled like the bunny I knew and that day I fell in love with him all over again and made a new friend in the needle that healed him.

A needle, over the years, has never changed, or very little anyway. They have been around for more than 60,000 years and began as bone or wood, but later, and to date, are carbon steel. It is used in many aspects of life, not just for stitching bunnies or clothing. It’s used to stitch our skin, or the leather seats in our cars. If we never had the needle, what would we have done? Just as at times our skin is now being stapled in surgery, rather than stitched, would our clothes have had to be stapled? Would that not look funny to be walking around with little staples hanging off our clothing and often times, we would be stuck by a stray one. For clothing, we possibly would have turned to glue. Would that not limit the style of our clothing or the tediousness of their preparation utilizing only glue?

I, myself, could never be without a needle. Since that very day that Oscar was mended, many times it has mended my soul. I love what the needle allows me to do. My creativity has no limits with this fine piece of steel. I have an appreciation for its importance in life and am always certain to return it to the special place that my home preserves for it. If ever you need one, you will find many at my house, in all sizes. A needle sits and waits for just the perfect moment to create, build or repair. This is its only purpose and it really doesn’t care. Its job is never done, but there is no limit to what it shares.