We are sorry to report that our beloved Kathy Meredith, known to all of us at The Artful Bead as PopTart, passed away quietly at her home early this morning. Her family says that she will be cremated and her ashes scattered over the mountains of Tennessee.
It’s hard to believe that we will never again hear her wonderful laugh, that famous “laugh that could peel paint.” And that she won’t be dropping by to teach a class and show us her newest creations. We will all miss her kindness, her ability to laugh at everything and everybody, and her generosity.
I once admired one of her fabulous felted bags. Three days later one arrived in the mail for me, with a full set of instructions so I could make one in my own colors. I have treasured that bag for 3 years. Now I will treasure it and the memory of the amazing woman who made it.
3 comments on “Sad News”
I wanted to share with you all an article I wrote about my Mom for Mother’s Day 2008. It was published in a local magazine in Greenville, NC. Oh…and P.S. I was blessed with the same, “paint peeling” laugh. If you ever really miss it….just give me a call. I’m in the book.
Enjoy.
My Mom and I are a lot alike. And if you ask my husband, he might say that we are too much alike. Not just by physical features but by personality as well. We are borderline obsessive compulsive over things we care about and enjoy, and we like to take “adventures” while driving in unfamiliar territory (even if it means ending up in the middle of a cornfield). But there’s a lot more than that I’ve gotten from my mother.
Like many young teenage girls, I swore that I would never be like my Mom. I even had a saying that I ripped out of a magazine and framed that said something along the lines of, “You do not have to be your Mother, nor you Mothers-mother….” But at the age of 15, I found out that Mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. That is how I found out how amazing my Mom really is.
Her heart and determination are something that I can only hope to have myself one day. I have watched her struggle with running a household while trying to fight a constant returning cancer for over 17 years now. And she did it all with a smile, her faith never wavering, and never really letting us know how sick she actually felt. Even when all her hair was gone.
Mom has taught me that with determination and a positive attitude, one can overcome any obstacle that life might throw at us. Also, that only through adversity some of the deeper lessons of life are learned.
So when I think back at the framed saying that I had many years ago, I see how wrong I was. For if I turn out to be half the woman that my Mom is, I would only be so lucky.
I have waited to post because I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing this remarkable woman. I am sad for her family and I hopethat those who knew her are comforted by having experienced her knowledge and genuine personality.
Thank you all for your kind words and thoughts.