By Emily Stonehouse

Many small pieces, all coming together to make something bigger.

I was inspired by Minden’s Mary Trepanier this week.

She and her group of dedicated volunteers have diligently worked for the past 23 years on the Knitting for Warmth project; an initiative to sew squares together in a blanket shape, to hand out to anyone who may need it.

Mary was smart when she started this project. She thought ahead. She knew that many hands make light work. Literally.

Anyone with an interest in textiles could likely knit, crochet, or patch a square. That’s it. A simple eight by eight shape; a monotonous task, but one that allows the mind to untangle its many busy thoughts.

Sometimes that’s exactly what we need at the end of a long day; an opportunity to unwind.

And so she started receiving squares from all over; cottagers who wanted to keep their hands busy, locals who were aging but seeking ways to keep their mind nimble, beginners who were green to the craft but had a desire to learn.

Everyone and anyone who cares about others.

And sometimes it feels like those individuals are few and far between these days.

Together, these many squares were woven together; a patchwork of personalities and a diorama of differences, but all with the same goal: to provide warmth.

As Mary and I spoke on the phone, it was drizzling outside. I myself had an old quilt wrapped around my feet in an effort to tame the chill that wound itself through my bones.

And Mary told me stories. About people who are displaced because of violence or abuse, but they bring their blanket place to place. About kids undergoing surgeries, and clinging to their blankets for safety and security. About individuals who spend summers living in the woods in an effort to save enough money for rent over the winter months, and rely on those blankets as home.

A blanket can be so much more than a series of pieces patched together.

And when these blankets are made from a place of love, a place of wanting to make the world a better place, I firmly believe that they carry that energy forward.

Perhaps that’s why so many kids carry their blankies with them from infancy. It’s not just a scrappy piece of material, it represents warmth, represents care, represents love.

Individually, those squares can only do so much. A dishrag, at best. But together, they become something bigger, something better, and something so much more real.

A shoutout to the community members who have made 99,000 squares, and 3000 blankets for those in need. That is no small feat, and I can only imagine the many corners of the world those blankets have seen.

It’s a humbling thought; many small pieces all coming together to make something bigger.

As we navigate the uncertainty of our political climate, let us remember that individually we are just one small square.

But together, we have the ability to represent warmth, represent care, and represent love.