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When Dawn Lambrecht was a little girl, her grandmother learned to knit.
"The first pair of mittens I ever finished I gave to her," recalled Vivian Lambrecht, 80. "I was so proud. I had done a special stitch for the trim."
With all the anticipation of a 5-year-old opening a present, young Dawn opened the gift.
"Judging from the reception she got in Room 210 of 35th Street Elementary School, she might have been handing out ice cream cones instead of winter warmers." |
With all the unvarnished disgust of a 5-year-old expecting a toy, young Dawn delivered her reaction: "Mittens!"
In the Lambrecht family, that word always goes with an exclamation point.
But oh, how the inflection has changed!
"Mittens!" was the joyous response the elder Lambrecht received Tuesday.
For the second year in a row, the octogenarian from Augusta was delivering her hand-knit specialties to the third-graders taught by her grown-up granddaughter.
Judging from the reception she got in Room 210 of 35th Street Elementary School, she might have been handing out ice cream cones instead of winter warmers.
And the children -- taking turns, saying "Thank you!" -- might have been at a birthday bash. As they tried on various sizes to find a pair that fit, they never stopped wearing their party manners. Later, their teacher said, each will compose and write a thank-you note. The book of last year's letters has become a cherished treasure of her grandmother's.
When every child had donned a pair and some had found a matching hat or scarf as well, the classmates joined in a delighted shout: "Thank you, Grandma!"
Pretending to be overcome by the noise, a smiling Lambrecht covered her ears.
Clearly enjoying herself, she watched her granddaughter turn the delivery into lessons in interviewing, math and spelling.
"Is there anything you want to ask her?" the teacher invited the class.
"How long did it take you to make the mittens?" Latrice Vann, 8, inquired. (She couldn't say, but one mitten takes three to four hours.)
"So how long would it take for a pair?" the younger Lambrecht asked the class. (They knew.) Tynisha Wilson, 8, wanted to know what else their guest of honor liked to do.
"I like to crochet and make quilts," the white-haired visitor said. "I help make quilts for Lutheran World Relief."
Tynisha confided that she, too, had just learned to sew.
Marlon Lindsey also shared a confidence. It was his 10th birthday. His mittens -- navy with burgundy trim -- exactly matched his burgundy shirt.
Segueing seamlessly into spelling practice, the younger Lambrecht gave her class clues to their words for the week.
As they eagerly vied for a chance to guess and spell each answer, the children waved mittened hands. It seemed a party game.
On the sidelines, the rest of the family beamed -- Victor and Sharon Lambrecht, her son and daughter-in-law; Laurie Howard, her other granddaughter.
This year, there had been reason to wonder whether Lambrecht's Tuesday delivery would ever take place.
When the matriarch was in the hospital last January after triple bypass surgery, her family fretted about her recovery.
"She worried about the mittens," said her son.
Nine weeks later, when she fell and broke her hip, her family was troubled as she mended in a nursing home.
She had a single concern: mittens.
Posted November 30, 1999