Getting to the Roots of the Matter

I haven't found as much informations written about the symbolism of roots yet but that is OK since I have plenty of personal meaning for them.

I will start with what I did.  The stitching is done with both a rayon thread and a cotton variegated  embroidery floss.  No particular stitches  mostly a mix of this and that to get what I wanted.

The symbolism that I could find for roots makes perfect sense.   Being grounded and personal background  are two that you would expect.  I did find one that was interesting: it was that roots are the foundation, but that they did not necessarily imply stability.   

OK now for the deep down and personal part of what roots have meant to me.  December 11th, 1970 my parents adopted my brother sister and I.   Two weeks before Christmas and they suddenly had a 1,2,and 3 year old.  As the oldest I always knew that I was adopted.  My parents got divorced when I was 6 and when I was 11 my Father died.  There were times when I had trouble with every thing going on in my life and the loss.  Although my Mother was always a stabilizing influence and loved me unconditionally there were many years in my teens and early 20's that I felt like I had no roots.  It was like I had come out of nowhere at 3 years of age.  I didn't remember anything before then and I felt a need for more.  

My Mom always supported my desire for more information but in small town Iowa getting even non-identifying information was next to impossible at that time.  I didn't really want to meet my biological parents ( I had a great Mom)  I just wanted to know where I came from.  I went through a period of depression during college but through the love and support of Family and Friends I managed to get through it.  I went through a lot of counseling during the summer between my junior and senior years in college and that helped.  

The next fall I met Wayne and fell deeply in love.  Wayne was very good for my self esteem which was not great when I met him.  I had some trust issues and feared being abandoned.  All of the things I went through taught me some very valuable lessons.  I no longer needed to find out about my biological family because I could make my own roots.  I already had a wonderful loving family, a man who loved me more than I had thought possible and through him even more family that loved and excepted me.  I also had some great friends who had seen me through some tough times.  

You can create your roots from what ever you want or need to.  You don't need to have a family linage that you can trace back generations.  I have added to my friends and family as we have moved around and now I have a foundation that is built with all of the love that we give to each other.   I reach out  my roots to all I love and now have a foundation that is very strong and deep.

My Web Gallery- Includes photos of both of my BJP pages 
Artistic Kreations and Passions- my website

BJP Website (my 2007-8 pieces)