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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 2016)
Wednesday, December 28, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 21 Decade-old seed sprouts new life By Jim Cornelius News Editor Katie Diez decided this year that she would finally unbox her late father’s old shirts and make something of them to commemorate a life that ended a decade ago. Though she had never quilted before, she decided to cut up those old shirts and make a quilt for her mom and each of her siblings as a remembrance of Bill Kruger. In the process, she found a tiny something that affirmed the tenacity of life despite loss and the passage of time. “In February, I found a lit- tle tomato seed on one of my dad’s shirts and I ended up flicking it off,” she recalled. She regretted doing that, thinking that she might have been able to do something with it. She went back and found one more tomato seed. Diez kept a journal through the process, and recounted Phil Arends Principal Broker 541-420-9997 phil@blackbutte.com how difficult it was to start cutting up her father’s shirts — and not to use each fully. And she recalled her joy at getting a second chance at the tomato seed: “I find that I feel guilty when I don’t use every scrap of fabric. Almost as if I’m wasting the animal I just shot,” she wrote. “Planning the cuts feels like I’m field-dressing a deer, which is ironic — Dad was a hunter. I found another tomato seed. I had discarded the first one and regretted not trying to sprout it. I feel like I won the lottery finding ONE MORE seed! I’m soaking it and will try to plant it.” She did — and found success. “I’ve been nurturing it for the past two months and it’s now four feet tall and grow- ing tomatoes,” she said. “And it was in a box stuck to a shirt for 10 years.” The remarkable occurrence connected her with her late father. “My dad was a gardener, and it just had meaning for me to see that,” she said. She wanted to make a pre- sentation of the plant along with the quilts for Christmas, so she kept quiet about the origins of the plant, even though family members had to occasionally help her keep the grow light on it when Katie was otherwise occu- pied. If they were puzzled by her insistence on growing a tomato plant in the winter, they kept it to themselves. “They’re kind of used to me doing weird stuff, so they didn’t ask too many ques- tions,” she said. Katie found nurturing the plant a pleasant retreat from the tumult of 2016, and it proved a fine symbolic gift to the family over the holiday. She discovered that grow- ing the plant and making the quilts was a way of prolong- ing her father’s story, keeping PHOTO PROVIDED Katie Diez nurtured a tomato plant from a seed found among her dad’s effects, which included shirts she turned into quilts. memories fresh and vivid she wanted to pass along. even after the passage of a “It’s just a neat story that decade. we thought we would share,” And she felt it was a story she said. Thank You Pet of the Week sponsors! Essentials Skincare Your generosity in 2016 helped many pets fi nd new loving homes. Certifi ed Esthetician Karen Keady, RN/NCEA 541-480-1412 Black Butte Veterinary Clinic & 541-549-1837 49-1837 37 7 S U P P LY 541-549-4151 CUSTOM HORSE CARE Broken Top Veterinary Clinic Susan Marcoux 541-410-1421 541-389-0391 Chelsea Bothum Massage LMT #17085 541-549-2275 541-419-0872 541-419 9 -0872 ALLAN GODSIFF SHEARING 541-549-2202 Sisters Veterinary Clinic 541-549-6961 541-549-1 541-549-1175 1 175 Your Pet-friendly Realtor ALI MAYEA , Broker GRI, SRS, CNE SISTERS HOMETOWN REALTY 541-480-9658 aliofsisters Francois’ Workshop 541-549-0605 541-815-0624 PONDEROSA PROPERTIES, LLC 541-549-2002 800-650-6766