Mark’s “Threads of Life”
It is hard to limit the number of things to put in Mark’s quilt square. We could have easily made an entire quilt consisting of items or memories that made up parts of Mark’s life. In limiting it to what could fit in a 9” x 9” square, we had to pick only those things that were important to him in different stages of Mark’s life. We will try to explain what each of the symbols and patches mean to us and meant to him.
When Mark was a young boy, his interest seemed to center around sports and some version of scouts. He played baseball, football, and soccer in almost all of our relocations, largely coached by his Dad. When he wasn’t involved in sports, Mark was involved in the Cub Scouts (rising to the Webelos rank and earning and earning the “Arrow of Light”). He was also involved in the less formal YMCA version of scouts called “Indian Guides”.
As Mark got older, he narrowed his sports to Football and Baseball in High School and earned varsity letters in both from two different High Schools. After High School, Mark decided that college wasn’t for him, but a career in the automotive industry better suited him.
Starting at the bottom, Mark picked up the skills he needed to become an Autobody Technician. Since he was almost always the junior person in the shop, Mark got laid off a lot – but it never seemed to deter him from his chosen profession. He would simply go out and find another job and wear a new colored name tag on a different uniform. Along the way, Mark acquired a 1897 Mustang with a racing engine which would become his passion for years. He decided he would rebuild the car, design and install a roll cage, and someday race the car. Unfortunately, Mark passed away before he could realize his dream.
During this time, there were several things that became constants for Mark. One was his daily habit of coffee (usually at Wawa), and frequent stops at a donut shop (usually Wawa or Dunkin’ Donuts). The other was his love of music. Sometimes it was a cassette player he would listen to, sometimes an MP3 player, and still others would find Mark listening to an IPod. The constant was that Mark would be listening to some sort of music almost every waking moment.
Given this brief summary, it is easy to see how we picked the symbols for Mark’s quilt square. The Cub Scout and Indian Guide badges represent his time in scouts; the baseball, football and soccer patches represent his involvement in those sports both as a youngster and in High School. The name tag was one of many worn by Mark over the years; the donut and coffee cup were his daily ritual. The cassette was his love of music in any form, and the racing car was his dream.
Mark was this and so much more.