He fixed my thumb. I have no pain, no loss at all.

There is always a new technique to learn. This is a very exciting time to be a fabric artist. The learning curve is huge and the sophistication of materials, threads and teachers is a $2-billion business. Fabric, thread and sewing machines have become so sophisticated that you can draw with them and on them.

She made me a new coat every year.

I loved to go through the fabrics. Anytime I needed something new, I would pick out pieces of materials from the buffet.

They were also a way of keeping warm or of celebrating something.

There are times when one cannot accept facts for fear of shattering one's being. As I listened to Ian's news, all of Digit's life, since my first meeting with him as a playful little ball of black fluff ten years earlier, passed through my mind. From that moment on, I came to live within an insulated part of myself.