This morning while I was grocery shopping, I quickly grew tired of fighting
my way down over-crowded aisles. Trying to get my cart past shoppers with
cell phones glued to their ears, and battling the flood of children who
seemed to crowd every aisle wore me out very quickly. So, in order to grab a peaceful moment, I stopped at the magazine and book section. I picked up the newest issue of Quilter’s Home Magazine, a magazine I write for from time to time (thanks to a lead years ago from Cat Writers’ Association).

My first article with them was about keeping your cats out of your quilting
stash. Then I fell into assignments concerning people who lose loved ones,
stitch up memory quilts and the story behind the quilts. The assignments are
never easy, because for those who I interview, their grief is never
painless.

In the Reader’s Letter section, I saw this:

“I was reading your Sept. magazine last evening and came across the article
by Mary Anne Miller. It had quite an impression on me because my husband
passed away last November after a brief illness. I have not been able to
quilt or even look at plans for quilts. I kept saying I wanted to, but time
passed and I never got to them. Well, last evening I pulled out a project
and the machine and sewed. Today, I spent some time designing a quilt and
started cutting. It feels so good to get back to something that has given me
so much enjoyment. Please thank her for her wonderful article. It had so
much meaning for me.”

Doris Harris
Whippany, NJ

This validates what I do. It shows me, what I have known all along (though
sometimes forget) that words matter and they can have impact on people. I
have two articles on my desk due before Christmas. I was stalled out, not
really writer’s block, but not happy with what I’ve written, but unsure how
to change them. This reader’s letter has given me what I need to restart my
articles. To make them matter.

Samuel Johnson once wrote: “What is written without effort is in general
read without pleasure.”