Get your stuff off my bed!

My sister, Tricia, made this for my birthday several years ago. The various symbols are things she and I have shared over the course of our lives. We two are symbolised beside the heart, which contains my name.

I love the look of this piece and the feeling of love it gives me when I look at it, but I see more in it. I see the time it took to make it, the care in planning to make it meaningful; I see the time she locked me in a big bird cage when I was ten and when she stood perfect in her pure white debutante's gown and long gloves on her way to her deb ball. I see all those years she looked after our mum while I was floating off around the world; I hear her nagging voice to "get your stuff off my bed"; I feel her taking my hand at her husband's funeral.

It's a significant part of my life's treasures.