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Show The Ch ristmas Quilt by Blanche Tanner Dillin THE snow was beautiful but made one feel somewhat lonely, Nancy Alv.cll thought as she stood at the window watching watch-ing the falling snow. For an instant in-stant she regretted refusing the urgent ur-gent invitations of her two brothers and two sisters to spend the holidays holi-days with them. Each of them had been insistent, but were ail so far away it was out of the qujs-tion, qujs-tion, linancially, and she didn't want them to furnish the money and then for years she had spent Christmas here in the Connecticut j hills with grandmother anil she couldn't imagine it seeming like Christmas any place else. Peggy North her old and dear friend, had written that she could not get away for the holidays, so hoped that Nancy could be with her. I Nancy had done little toward any i sort of festivities and had left put-I put-I ting up the decorations until the last minute. In fact she hadn't bought anything new the old ones would do well enough. Perhaps she might just as well go up to the attic now and see what there was. It might seem more like Christmai with some decorations around. As she opened a drawer in an old chest her hand touched grand- mother's old quilt "Grandmoth-i "Grandmoth-i er's h;ippiness quilt," as she always al-ways called it. it was Just such a day as this so long ago, when sitting sit-ting at grandmother's feet down In the "setting" room she had heard the history of the pieces in the quilt. There was no place hero in the nil ie to l"uk at it. so tugoth-er tugoth-er with wP'::'hs and garlands of tinsel she carried the quilt down to the room where she had heard its history for the first time, and spread It cut on the bed. Here v.'as a piece frnrn the dress grandrrmtlH r had worn when grandfather proposed. Here wai thu piece of grandmother's wed ding flress others from Christening Christen-ing robes, party dresses, wedding dresses and dresses worn on othet happy ocasions some almost ia 1 shreds, but stiU enough left to re-1 call the stories to Nancy as Grand' i mother Atwell had told them. How grandmother had loved telling ' them and how she had laughed al ome memory. Nancy had com- mented on what a happy lif grandmother had had. No one evei ; had a happier one, grandmothel assured her. How cheerful, unselt ; ish, grandmother had been, nevei dwelling on her own troubles, bul ready to help others in theirs. j Nancy recalled the times grandmother grand-mother had been the means ol making the path a little smoother, the pain less keen, by the gift ol something Nancy especially want ed or the fulfilling of some cher ' ished plan of Nancy's. And whet Nancy was left alone in the old home and grandmother sent foi her she must have guessed jus1 how much Nancy wanted the res; and quiet the hills would give her Nancy never forgot the smile ant embrace with which grandmothel greeted her no rehearsing a painful experiences, but plans im mediately made for happy days ii the future. Nancy's loss had beei grandmother's as well, but grand mother had never let others know : the shadows that crossed her path What a satisfaction it must be ti j be able to help others as grand mother had. Then Nancy saw hov j she could do the same, in a meas i ure at least. First she could givi I Anna a vacation over the holidays J Next she would wire Peggy shi I would be with her over Christmas ! As she laid the quilt away aftei - carrying out her plans, deep grat, tude filled her heart for if shi hadn't found the quilt she woul. I never have known the happinc: she now felt. ; She Hud Heard (ho History f tin |