Hope & a Cricut

Gratitude for my friend

Hope Matters

Hey, Hope Buddies! I’ve missed y’all, and I hope it’s reciprocated. I’m just gonna jump on in with this one, and we’ll see where we land.

So, about a month ago, a very dear friend of mine passed away. And when I tell you it hit like a ton of bricks…ooo wee! I was on the phone to my therapist as soon as I could manage a phone call. Now, I wrote about grief a couple of years ago, so this won’t be that. However, if you feel my grief in it, so be it. 🤷🏾‍♀️ I’m still managing, and I’m learning to be okay with that (She typed as she rolled her eyes 🙄 about it and recalls her therapists words.) 🤦🏾‍♀️

Now, I know you’re wondering what in the world this has to do with a Cricut , and I’m getting to that. And maybe you’re wondering what the world a Cricut even is? (It’s a cutting machine, y’all.) 🤭

This friend I’m writing about is the reason I actually own one and have for almost 6 years now.

Well, I was asked to speak as a friend at her funeral, and it’s not lost on me what an honor that was. (Neither she nor I are the type to use the term, friend, in jest or casually.) Of course, those of you who’ve been with me here long enough know that, if it’s in the hopeletter title and I’m writing about her, the Cricut was also in my tribute. So, Hope Buddies, I’m sharing a bit of that with you:

I don’t know how or when the rest of our friendship happened and grew so very quickly but bonding over planning turned into not-about-work phone calls, lunch or dinner out, discussing music and our knitting and crocheting projects, and completing devotional plans together…and then I decided to get a Cricut (with her enthusiastic encouragement). Because, according to her if I got one, I could create our planner decals, and we wouldn’t have to buy them on Etsy. Her exact words were, “Parthenia! Think of all the things you could do!” She was WAY more excited about this [Cricut] than I was, and I was the one who was buying the thing!

Her creative mind - and her belief that I could create or re-create anything she came up with - was unmatched. I always knew it was gonna be trouble when she texted a picture and asked, “Do you think you can do this?” or just flat-out said, “I want you to make me one of these. It doesn’t have to be the same; it can be a version of it. I know you can do it.”

Now, following this exchange she’d give me time to design some mockups and let her choose one before I got to cutting. This amounted to about 5 years worth of decals or whatever she could think of. So, if you knew her and saw her planner name decals, clipboards, or received a cowbell (Hail State! 🐾) from her during this stretch of time, I most likely cut them for her to lay after she got one of her “bright ideas.”

After I’d learned of her passing, I began to wonder if I’d ever be able to use that thing again, ‘cause it hurt just looking at it. Well, wouldn’t you know, I couldn’t even get through the next couple of weeks without requests from people who don’t even really ask me to use my Cricut. I’m sitting there looking at my phone like…Y’all asking me to do what now?!

Shout out to Prince for the perfect look, because we both loved him! 💜

But, in the spirit of remembrance and her belief in me, I agreed to the projects. And as usual I fussed over them, and all I could hear was her voice in my head (typically accompanied by an eyeroll) saying, “Nobody knows it’s not perfect but you, Parthenia!”

So, I’ve used my Cricut, and it still stings a little to use it, knowing I won’t get that random “I’ve got a project for you” text from her or make anything for her again. Yet, I know I can use it, and I’m grateful to her that I even have it as a creative outlet. As I told you all many hopeletters ago, hope and gratitude exist together.

I deeply miss my friend, Dwanda, but the appreciation I feel for her inadvertently having taken up so much space in my life over the past 8 years infinitely outweighs that. We both identify as warriors; each for different reasons. So, in respect of that as well as her memory, I will war on in faith and with an expectation of victory…

…and keep using my Cricut. 💪🏾

What are you grateful for?

Coffee Matters

🗣️ Coffee Buddies! So, listen! Y’all already know that Cxffeeblack got me in a chokehold on this monthly subscription. Last month, they sent me the Oh Que Sera along with the OG Guji Mane. And when I tell you I was hooked at the first sniff of the beans…?! Then, I sipped it. 🤤 I was immediately considering ordering another bag right then and there.

They did not lie about the notes on this one. It’s “wildly fruity.” Do yourself a favor and order a bag. You can thank me later. 😉

What are you sipping this week?

I appreciate you taking the time to read this hopeletter about my life and coffee. Please share with a friend who could use a little hope or coffee recommendation.