There is more to the story of Blackberry Patchworks. These are but a couple of pages.

It is often said that when we encounter difficulties on the road it's a sign that you shouldn't be doing something or a warning to turn around. There's another possibility, maybe a deeper truth. Perhaps those difficulties are actually tests to determine if you really want it. I found myself in such a place in the spring of 2002. After being laid off, and unable to find work despite over 250 resumes mailed & 2 interviews, I could not find work. I decided to open a quilt store with my tiny retirement & a small loan from my mother-in-law. It took way more preparation than I originally had anticipated but I kept at it. I secured a physical place, signed the lease, and paid a deposit. I had drawn up a 3 yr. business plan and resourced business model options. Chose to set-up the business as a limited liability corporation, hired an attorney to reveal my resource, and I went to Columbus to file the papers & pay the fees. I met with fabric/notions salesmen and placed orders and scheduled deliveries. Mitch built cabinets, I procured store fixtures, with the help of a couple of friends & family, we prepared the storefront. I projected an open date of July 2. I cannot tell you how much was ready and had been well planned. On Saturday, June 8, I had ran 5 miles. I was training for another marathon. That afternoon, Mitch and I decided to go on a bicycle ride. 22 miles into the ride, I started to feel as if I were fainting and I heard a voice say, "hydrate, hydrate, hydrate." I drank some, crossed St. Rt. 185 and don't remember much after that. Mitch was 1/4 mile ahead of me and heard me say, "Oh God." As he turned around to ride back to me, he watched me fly over the handle bars, and my head bounced on the blacktop. By the time he got to me, he could see lots of blood on the road and running out of the right side of my head. I was trying to stand up and he told me to just stay still. Fortunately, he had his cell phone. Unfortunately, we weren't wearing helmets; we had them but we weren't wearing them. It took the ambulance 9 minutes to arrive. Mitch rode with me while kind strangers took our bikes & left their card with Mitch wishing us the best. I don't remember the ambulance ride. I do remember the ER. I remember the room full of busy people and my head really hurting. When I told the Dr. my head hurt. I don't remember the Cad-Scan. I do remember hearing someone say that this was out of their hands. I do remember being outside on a bed next to the helicopter. I remember late evening spring sky being a dark grey/blue. They told me I was going for a ride. I remember the sound of the engine & the propellers. The next thing I remember was the ceiling in the ER at Miami Valley Medical Center. Once again, I woke enough to tell a doctor that my head hurt. He applied Novocain which burned terribly. He began to put staples in my skull but scraped it and I passed out from the pain. I spent 7 days in ICU, 1 more day in the next step down. I remember occasional visits from family & friends. I remember the faces of my children who looked painfully lost. They kept me on morphine for all of those days and it's hard to say what I really saw but every time I'd wake enough to tell them I was feeling great pain, they'd dose me again before I could tell them I still felt the pain while in a comatose state. I was released 8 days after I checked in. I was tired and dizzy at home and wanted to just rest. Mitch pushed to sit up & move. I had for years (and still occasionally) dealt with vertigo as a result. I went to one session of physical therapy and they said I did so well, I could go work for them. But my neurologist said no work, no running, no playing, no lifting, no much of anything for at least 9 months. What? 9 months? I had signed a lease and did incredible prep work. What would I do? SSI? No they told me I needed a note from my Dr. that required 12 months off. I decided not to go that route. I really wanted to work and make a quilt shop work. There have numerous difficulties in this journey but those are other pages that perhaps you can read about sometime in my blog. But those difficulties and others that followed helped me sharpen my focus and strengthen my determination. I never saw it as a sign to turn back and I don't regret the decision. If I really didn't want to do help bring inspiration & creativity to folks, I would have turned back and quit.

So, sorry, you're stuck with me. What about it; are you in?