Mother [the late Emilia Gawron] loved flowers. They always existed in some form in our home – in vases, in the windows, on tablecloths, doilies, clothes… From childhood, the first thing that come to mind when I think about my Mother is a woman in a pink flower dress and this is how it remained till the end – she always chose clothes in floral prints…

 
My Mother taught me everything that fits into the category of “handicrafts,” in the broad sense of the word – sewing, cross-stitching, embroidering, crocheting, knitting– she knew how to do ALL of these! There was no stitch that she could not execute. When there was hardly anything in the shops, she would always attire us in pretty dresses made from Etamine, linen, Bistor polyester, Dederon or cotton, often sewn by her, whereas sweaters, hats, infinity scarves, legwarmers (depending on the newest trends in fashion), mittens and socks, were standard items, a matter of course at our house. She liked prettiness, that everything matched colouristically, and stylistically…

DEMENTIA – a cruel word which often changes everything in many people’s lives. The last four years of my Mother’s life were, unfortunately, affected by this disease. It was a race against time and an attempt to save what remained of her memory and her humanity, her dignity…  For occupational therapy, I was buying for her various kinds of yarn, so that she could engage in an activity that would bring her joy, a bit of relaxation, and some improvement to her dexterity. However, the disease was unrelenting and was slowly but steadily robbing my Mother of that skill, as well. Nonetheless, I was saving all the artifacts that my Mother still managed to produce, because to me they are of tremendous sentimental, personal value to me, even though at that time I didn’t know what for I was doing this. Initially, I could not believe that of all that her mind had been capable of doing, what remained at the end were the most basic stiches, and even these – with mistakes… I did not know what I would do with all her handiwork, but I was sure that something could be created out of it. With these crafts I wanted to rescue her from the clutches of this disease, to save her somehow, to salvage in her what made her who SHE was.

A year ago, during summer holiday, an idea began to form in my mind for that ‘something’ on which my Mother’s fingers were still busily working. At first, it still made no sense, but something began to ‘sprout’ in my head, an idea began to take shape… I decided that we would make something TOGETHER, that I would create our collaborative works of art. My linocuts and her handiworks. Hers dressed in flowers. An idea for the cycle ‘Delivered from Dementia – Dedicated to my Mother.” These were to the last ‘flowers’ that she brought into my life… This time it wasn’t she – bringing me them from the allotment into a vase, sewing them onto my dress, or knitting them into a new sweater for me, but I – wanting to give them to HER…

She saw the first two… I managed to make it in time… “Lovely, lovely, I like them” – she said, and two weeks later, she passed on…

 

Urszula Gawron-Leśniara

Nowy Sącz, 3 June 2025

 

(t/r AK)