100 Bears for Africa

Twins Antonia and Zuleika surrounded by the DNA of Bear Life

I finished knitting 100 Bears for Africa on Sunday, August 24, 2008, exactly six months after I had begun on Sunday, February 24, 2008. This week I tagged them, photographed the last ones, and tried to figure out how best to send them to the Super-Mother-Bear in Minneapolis. I am promised some boxes and hope to get the whole shipment ready by Tuesday, September 2.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to blog in recent weeks; I was plagued by problems with my Internet connection; then family related matters and and health considerations took priority. But.....I didn't give up knitting and eventually I will write a few more Bear stories and make a few more comments about the last six months.

I'm not done with knitting Bears for the Mother Bear Project. I cloned Bear 100 and will keep number 101 as reminder that good ideas don't end when we reach a particular goal. Good ideas are timeless and much more needs to be done for the children in Africa.

So, in the midst of little pieces of yarn that I have declared to be the DNA of Bear life as we know it, I have finally produced a copy. Like a pair of socks- two matching Bears. Which brings me back to the beginning of the year when socks were my concern. I think I'm ready for another pair now. While I will continue to knit Bears, I will no longer follow a rigorous daily schedule, but will add in a few other items, catch up on my reading, my sleep, and my walks in the park.

Thanks to everybody who contributed to my Bear fund - my family, my friends, my fellow memoir writers - I couldn't have done it without you. And to all the other Mother Bears out there; thanks for your support, your kind words, and your continued efforts to bring smiles to the faces of the children in Africa.

Love and Peace,

Gisela