...saying goodbye to an old friend

I bought the old dear in 1977. She had already given someone else a few years of hard work, but I didn't care. We became great friends. I wonder how many hours we have spent together over the years, creating one-of-a-kind gifts and salvaging favorite jeans? Last night, I sat down to finish up a very small project that required a few straight stitches and two small button holes. She didn't complain at first, but balked when I asked to her start the first button hole. I pulled and twisted the knob and muttered under my breath, but no go. So I took her apart as much as I could and peered inside. I cleaned and oiled and said sweet things, then put her back together. Still, the answer was no. So, practicing on a scrap, I figured out how to make a button hole using the zig zag stitch. Not pretty, but functional. Then all that was left was the finishing seam. Less than a foot of straight stitching. But, the needle would only go up and down in one spot--no forward motion at all. That final seam was created by pulling the fabric from the back--again, not pretty, but it worked.

So now what? I haven't been without a machine since I learned to sew. Generous friends and family members have offered me loaners, but I need my own machine.

Until I find a replacement, I am a sometimes insomniac teacher who cycles, reads, and...misses her old friend.