This sentiment hangs over my work bench. I look at it every day. It is taken from an old framed poem that was in my grandfather's workplace in Salem, Ohio (Deming Pump Company) more than fifty years ago. After it left the factory, it went home to my grandfather's next door neighbor and colleague, where it hung on the wall for decades until he went to rest and it was sold at auction. My dad bought it and gave it to me. I've had it for years. The frame is beat up and weathered. The paper is brown and the glass is wavy from the elements but the title says it all. All Things Work Out. And it goes like this:
Because it rains when we wish it wouldn't,
Because men do what they often shouldn't,
Because crops fail and plans go wrong,
Some of us grumble the whole day long;
But somehow in spite of care and doubt,
It seems at last that things work out.
Because we lose where we hope to gain,
Because we suffer a little pain,
Because we must work when we'd like to play,
Some of us whimper along life's way;
But somehow as day must follow the night,
Most of our troubles work out all right.
Because we can not forever smile,
Because we must trudge in the dust a while,
Because we think that the way is long,
Some complain that life is all wrong;
But somehow we live and skies grow bright,
And most things seem to work out all right.
So we'll bend to our troubles and meet our care,
For the cloud must break and the sky grow fair,
Let the rain come down as it must and will,
But we'll keep on working and hoping still;
For, in spite of grumblers who stand about,
Somehow it seems all things work out.
The copper version is in my etsy shop now
But I like the sentiment so much I made a silver version, too, but it's going to be a necklace on etsy tomorrow, unless I can find more thick 14 gauge silver like this one in my stash. I crinkle domed the copper one and distressed it with texture and liver of sulphur, then brush and polish. And there is a copper domed one that is a necklace but I ran out of light before I could take more photos today and post on etsy.
It's been a long couple of weeks, people, after I had a mammogram (it's breast cancer awareness month, by the way!!) and a small lump was detected. My parents and husband rallied round. I am so thankful to have such a loving family. A biopsy was performed last Friday and then a long wait over the weekend for the results. Monday evening- the call from the doctor's office. Thankfully, thankfully- benign. Of course me being me, I assumed the worst from the start and my mind raced with fear for a week and a half in between mammogram and biopsy and then over the weekend until the good news. I literally felt frozen with dread- a new and terrible feeling. I was so glad to have my family here (they canned the first leg of a long planned vacation to be with me) to help keep fear at bay. It's definitely a reminder that we're not here forever. I still feel a bit strange now, like I should have some new lease on life or something, although it is indeed something that literally thousands of women go through every day. Still I am trying to figure it all out. Otherwise, as usual, creating things makes me feel good, satisfied and purposeful.
After the storm passed, I made this. It's available in my etsy shop http://jenniferstumpf.etsy.com.
This pendant is in the current issue of Stringing magazine, page 40. It's also in my etsy shop. These orders, piled and ready to be boxed and shipped, kept me sane during the last two weeks.
As always, Lucy and Maggie keep me laughing and loving. My lovely parents have resumed their journey north. I hope they have a wonderful time and see glorious leaves, blue skies and stunning scenery. My husband and I keep on keeping on, here where the skies seem just a bit more blue than usual.
