Honoring Gran, Part 1

My grandmother, Marie Norris Brooks -- Gran to her 10 grandbabies-- was a marvelous lady.  I think all of us granddaughters wanted to be like her when we grew up: beautiful, charming, elegant, insightful, and a fantastic cook.  Gran would let you lick the beaters when she made a cake, give you a taste of her fresh lemonade to make sure it was fit to serve, and could barbecue like nobody's business.

Gran had a life outside of her husband, children, and grandchildren that was filled with friends and service to others.  One way she combined those things was through her involvement with The Links, Inc.  The Links, Inc. is one of the nation's oldest and largest volunteer service organizations for African-American women.  Members are bonded by a chain of friendship.  Founded in 1946 in Philadelphia, there are now Links chapters all across the country.  In 1959, she and nine other women chartered the Fort Worth, Texas chapter.

Marie Norris Brooks, seated far left, with (in order) Zelma Bazy Woodard,  Ruby Williamson, Mutelle Flint, Ethelyn Maynard Burnett, Viola Borders, May Pearl Hollie Flint,  Sybil Munchus Byrd, Marie Scott Platte, and Hortense Burnett Chatman (first President of the chapter)
Picture courtesy of the Fort Worth Chapter of The Links, Inc.

She was committed to the Links and remained a faithful member until her death in 2009.  To honor her and the women who founded the Fort Worth chapter, my aunt, Link Jennifer Giddings Brooks (Fort Worth chapter) and my mother, Link Marian Brooks Bryant (Lansing, MI chapter) encouraged me to make a small piece to hang in the organization's headquarters building here in Washington, DC.

How we got from there to the finished piece will be coming next week (click here to go to that post), but here is a close-up of my second favorite part of this quilt: