My Patient’s Graduation Quilt is Done!

My patient’s graduation quilt is done! I couldn’t be more pleased. I could not wait until I went to work on Monday to show his family and I texted pictures to his mother. She literally cried when she saw it: “It’s soooo beautiful! Thank you for such a lovely and thoughtful gesture! I am in tears! It is an heirloom! I want to wrap up in it!”

I texted pictures to people in my sewing circles. They said, “What a rewarding career! You must be so proud!”

I was. I was literally crying. I was not prepared for how emotional this would all be for me.

My patient’s graduation took place on Wednesday, June 4^th, 2026.

Obama Center Visit with the Chicago Lyric Opera and Committed Knitters

Committed Knitters is a knitting and crochet circle that meets on the University of Chicago campus at the Arts Incubator. They usually meet on Wednesday afternoons from 11 am to 3pm. It is led by Dr. Alva Batey-Stepancic. She has gone above and beyond to create a warm and welcoming environment. Although I generally work during the week during this time, I am still a member of Committed Knitters. I do try to attend as many events as my work and school schedule will allow.

This was one of those events that I knew I simply could not miss.

Dr. Alva received an invitation for Committed Knitters to attend the Auditorium Acoustical Commissioning at the Obama Presidential Center on Friday, May 28^th, 2026, in the Elie Wiesel auditorium for a private performance by the Chicago Lyric Opera singers.

The Committed Knitters helped out tremendously with the Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary yarn bombing project.

I literally cried during their performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” and “Amazing Grace.” The Obama Center was preparing for their grand opening on Juneteenth, Friday, June 18^th, 2026. The Chicago Lyric Opera singers were doing just a practice performance, but truth be told, they were more than ready for the stage. It was a sincere honor to be there. It was an honor to be a part of the Committed Knitters knitting circle. The Committed Knitters members wore their t shirts and took a group photo.

Thank you Dr. Alva and all the Committed Knitters! The Whitney Young High School yarn bombing would not have been a success without all of you!

Jennifer Chiaverini Author Reading at Quilter’s Quest Quilt Shop

Ironically, there was an amusement park across the street from Quilter’s Quest when author Jennifer Chiaverini dad an author reading at the quilt shop on Thursday, May 21^st, 2026. It seemed the writing muses were giving a nod of approval. It was great to see Jennifer back into the quilt fiction swing of things. She wrote the Elm Creek series and then switched to historical fiction. Now, she is back to her quilt fiction roots and my sewing circles and I could not be more thrilled.

Jennifer Chiaverini is a quilter herself. She created a fiction series based on quilters. This book series was popular among quilters, like me. As a matter of fact, people from my sewing circles actually showed up at Quilter’s Quest for her author reading and we did not even know we would be there!

Jennifer then asked the audience were there any questions.

“You’ve written over 20 novels,” one of the members of my sewing circle said.  “How are you doing this?”

Jennifer admitted that 2025 was a challenging year. Her husband needed surgery and there were setbacks getting to a number of her author readings, but she still tried to make the time to place the time and energy on her writing.

I asked Jennifer about any advice she had for aspiring authors. It was the standard: make dedicated time to write your novel, find a writing group, do meticulous research, especially if there is any historical element to your novel. This advice has worked well for her.

Congratulations Jennifer Chiaverini! We are all so proud of you!

Author Reading With Mia Manansala

It has to be a wonderful feeling when the library you once worked for now has your author reading! This is exactly what happened to Mia Mannansala on Wednesday, May 20^th, 2026, at the Forest Park Public Library.

I adored the book, “Death is in the Cards.” One of my Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary yarn bombers was a Chicago librarian who also enjoyed her books.

Mia Manansala gave a slide lecture detailing her journey from library employee to published author. She first started with a mystery writing class from Lori Raider Day. Then she won a number of writing competitions. Her mother was a librarian and recommended JoAnn Fluke’s mystery books. Mia loved these books. However, she was concerned about the lack of ethnic representation. So, she remembered Toni Morrison’s quote where, to paraphrase, Ms. Morrison pretty much said, “Write your own novels.” So, this is what Mia did.

There were Filipino dishes for the audience to enjoy. I had her books on my iphone. Although I love the digital age, I must say I miss the good old days of having the author sign your book. I mean having books on your phone decreases bulk in the house, but I do miss having my book signed and holding a book in my hands. To make up for this emotional loss, I told Mia Manansala that I was an aspiring author and a student at Northeastern Illinois University for their teacher certification program if she would be interested in lending her editorial services to a young adult mystery novel that I was trying to write. She said she would be interested and if she could not help me, she would try to find someone who could.

This is all I could ever ask.

Congratulations to Mia Manansala! Happy Writing!

Two Summers on Hayes Avenue Documentary Viewing and Refuge High: Coming of Age in America by Elly Fishman Book

While I was taking teacher certification classes at Northeastern Illinois University in spring 2026, we were asked to do an asset mapping group exercise where we were assigned different neighborhoods in the Chicagoland area by our professor to profile and list assets to the community.

Asset mapping has different names in different professions, but it is a technique commonly found within social work where members of the community are asked to find the resources available to that community. The purpose is to look at communities with a fresh set of eyes and to view more of the assets of a neighborhood rather than the deficits.

Our neighborhood was Rodgers Park. The school we were assigned as Sullivan High School. I was introduced to a book called, Refuge High: Coming of Age in America by Elly Fishman. This book was a collection of sparking profiles of both the students and the staff at Sullivan High School, in which 43 languages are spoken. Many are coming here to America for asylum and have found a close knit, supportive community within Rodgers Park.

My graduate group and I were introduced to Tess Lacey, a recent graduate from Sullivan High School in Rodgers Park. We interviewed her on Saturday, April 11^th, 2026 at the Common Cup coffee shop in Rodgers Park, the same day that the Whitney Young High School 50^th anniversary yarn bombing was revealed at the Whitney Young High School Sneaker Ball and Yarn Con was taking place and Windy City Knitting did a knit-a-thon to raise money for our local food bank. That was a big day (whew!)!

However, even bigger things were coming forward, such as the filming and release of

Tess Lacey’s upcoming documentary. Through the Roman Susan Art Foundation during the summers of 2024 and 2025, Tess Lacey created a documentary titled, Two Summers on Hayes Avenue, a visual summary of her blog entries in The Kidler with interviews of local Rodgers Park residents and employees. Tess Lacey also is a part of the One Northside organization.

The Kidler blog site address is https://kidler.webnode.page  

The One Northside website is www.onenorthside.org

The crowd was diverse in ages, races, religions during the documentary viewing on Thursday, May 24^th, 2026. Everyone was happy that Tess and her friends were able to get this project off the ground.

Congratulations Tess Lacey! I wish nothing but the best for you and all of your future endeavors!

Sunflower Crochet Class

To treat myself for having completed my first semester of my teacher certification program at Northeastern Illinois University (whew!), I went to a sunflower crochet class at Sister Arts Studio in Chicago. I always look forward to taking classes here. On the corner is Wow! Pizzaria. They have some of the most oversized pizza slices in all of Chicago. I usually get one and then walk down the street to Sister Arts Studio. I have seen Toni of TL Yarns here as well as Krista Suh who wrote DIY Rules for a WTF World: How to Speak Up, Get Creative and Change the World. Fabulous book, by the way.

My maternal great grandmother was a master at crochet. I still have her afghans and doilies. I aspired to her greatness, but always felt disappointed by not asking her more questions when she was alive about what she was doing and my lack of success. I am forever indebted to the Whitney Young High School 50th anniversary yarn bombers who were much better at crochet than I was and gave helpful suggestions of YouTube videos to watch, such as TL Yarns, Crochet Crowd and Crochet Guru.

Before my class, I practiced my single, double and triple crochet stitches. Much like knitting, I found I was a loose crochet stitcher, as well. This meant that moving forward, I would need to drop down a crochet hook. This is what I thought.

However, there were other opinions about my crochet work:

“That looks good”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Oh keep going! You’re doing great!”

I admit it didn’t look too bad. I used the Whitney Young High School colors of blue and orange in acrylic yarn because I am a yarn bomber through and through. Actually, I liked my crochet stitch a little loose. It would be different, though, if I were placing it on car for a yarn bomb, though…

I Finished My First Semester of Teacher Certification at Northeastern Illinois University This Week and Switched My Major

I finished my first semester of teacher certification program at Northeastern Illinois University this week (Whew!) and switched my major. My undergraduate degree is in English. My graduate degree is in creative writing. I even have my own blog, if you hadn’t already noticed, where I write to all of my fellow humans out there who take time out of their busy schedules to read my blog posts and I graciously thank you.  

However, I was told two days ago that my degrees were “ineligible” to receive any funding reserved for teachers. Wait! I thought people said they needed teachers!??! I thought that the basics do not change and people needed English majors?!?!

Apparently not.

After I got over my initial shock, I consulted with AI about my dilemma. AI suggested that I switch my major. I did not grow up with AI. However, I noticed this past semester that a lot of these younger, newer students frequently run to AI for problems they may have. The new digital revolution has taken some time for me to get used to, but I will admit that in the middle of the night as I worried about my current circumstance, it was most comforting to have my problem solved by AI as well.

I then spoke to fellow classmates who had undergone the same issues and shared their experiences with me. I must add that it was better talking to humans who went through an experience similar to my own than computer software that is supposed to simulate human intelligence for guidance with my most decidedly human issue.

So, I switched my major to special education, which seemed to please the financial aid staff at NEIU as well as the U.S. Department of Education. At least for now anyways. .  .It is just as well with my background as a nurse and my work with my Whitney Young High School patient/student.

I know this is coming late, but Happy Mother’s Day to all who celebrate it. And not only that, but I’ve had extensive conversations with people regarding this holiday. There are people who do not have mothers for various reasons. There are caregivers, both professional and personal. There are single fathers. There are single mothers. There are grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles who are doing the work of parenting. There are mothers and fathers of furbabies.

Whatever your situation, Happy Mother’s/Caregivers Day!

I am a professional caregiver. I have elderly family members. I have friends. I have friends who have furbabies that are my surrogate furbabies. I still get presents on Mother’s Day anyway. So I tell people, Happy Mothers/Caregivers Day.

I saw my mother all weekend, even though school is about to end for me this week. My parent’s church has brunch on both Saturday and Sunday of Mother’s Day. I was present for all of it, including church. Any other time, it is not unusual for me to work on Mother’s Day and take my mother out at a separate time, but this is part of why I took this job with my Whitney Young High School student: To have more time with my elderly parents.

It was nice. I took the time to put some makeup on my face, which, although I enjoy these things, I generally do not do these things. I have patient care the majority of the time, after all, but I made time yesterday and today.

Happy Mother’s/Caregivers Day!

The Principal of Whitney Young High School Was Almost Shot and Killed and I am Making Him a Quilt

The principal of Whitney Young High School was almost shot and killed on Friday and I am making him a quilt. They are saying it was random. Needless to say, everyone wishes him well that he is unscathed. He went on the overhead intercom and thanked his well wishers today.

I have a lot to say about the lack of gun control and mental health services that contribute to situations like this, most especially the with the scenarios I have seen having been a nurse for 25 years. I had a discussion with one of my coworkers who is also a Northeastern Illinois university student in education. She felt I had seen a lot as a nurse. I had to tell her that we will all see a lot more of what healthcare workers observe in their jobs because of the lack of mental health services. Those responsibilities are being given to schools, churches and, unfortunately, law enforcement, who do not have the training to handle it. 

My major is English. Ironically, I had to give a group presentation in one of my teacher certification classes on Monday on “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In group discussions, I shared that as a nurse, I happened to come into contact with a forensic psychiatrist who refused a high profile crime case because he felt the person was guilty, but he did not want that to cloud his judgment. He felt Even though in the end, this person was found guilty by a court of law, I felt this forensic psychologist was a real life Atticus Finch. This is America. Everyone deserves a fair trial. 

The children have their own way of handling it. Ironically, they are giving a presentation on the innocence project today. And I do agree, regardless of guilt or innocence, this is America and everyone is supposed to have a fair trial. 

At times like these, I sew because I honestly don’t know what else to do, so I am making him a quilt to wish him well.

My Patient is Graduating High School, and I am Making a Graduation Quilt

My Whitney Young High School patient is graduating, and I am making him a graduation quilt. His family was told he would never live past the age of five, but obviously the doctors were wrong.

I love it when that happens!

My patient and I were told we were considered a “unit” in terms of obtaining tickets to the graduation. I thought it was super cute. My family made quilts for all types of occasions: graduations, birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, funerals, anytime in a person’s life milestone, really.

His family does not know I am doing this. It is supposed to be a surprise, but all of you look like trustworthy individuals, so I’m sure you’ll keep it to yourself (smile!).