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Mandalas for Marinke



As you have probably noticed, I regularly post to my blog on Tuesday. Hearing the news today that Marinke, aka Wink, succumbed to suicide last Friday, I feel compelled to post today in the hopes that reading this will underscore the great support from the crochet community that we all know and understand.

Wink was featured in Kathryn's book, Crochet Saved My Life, which I reviewed in 2012. Depression was a long and difficult battle for Wink and her creative endeavors greatly comforted her and motivated her to reach out to other crafters through her blog, A Creative Being. This time unfortunately, being creative and reaching out was not enough. For those of us who so believe in the healthful benefits of crochet and crafting, this is devastating. Seeing her blog which is brightly colored and happy-looking is so sad and ironic when the realization sinks in that she was suffering deeply.

My contribution crocheted from Wink's pattern: Spoke Mandala
Crocheting one of Marinke's beautiful free mandala patterns and contributing it to Kathryn Vercillo's community art memorial will be both comforting and beneficial for any of us who wish to participate. Awareness that depression is both an invasive and difficult condition is so important. That understanding can lead to prevention so that tradgedy's like the family of Marinke are going through today will not happen again! Kathryn has generously put together an avenue to help all of us through the grieving process as well as to honor the legacy of Marinke. Thank you, Kathryn!

I know first-hand how healing it can be to reach out and step out of our self-centeredness now and again. On my Ravelry page, Cro-Kween Designs, we honored and memorialized one of the Courtesans who died suddenly. Thanks to my wonderful Moderator, Twisted1, and several other volunteers, a very successful group effort contributed generously to a cause dear to our departed loved one's heart.
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CrochetKookie said…
Gwen, I read her book, and identified with her plight personally. There is now a project called semi-colon which discusses suicire ideation and depression. The name is also used for colon cancer sou have to look to make sure u have the applicable project. There is no light at the end of life's tunnel for a person with major depression...but like semi colon it really isn't the end of the sentence.
June 29, 2015 at 9:27 PM
Kathryn Vercillo said…
Thank you for sharing and for honoring Wink in this way. So many hugs today.
June 29, 2015 at 11:44 PM
Catherine Todd said…
CrochetKookie wrote: "There is no light at the end of life's tunnel for a person with major depression...but like semi colon it really isn't the end of the sentence."

Amen! And thank you so much. I am so glad to have found this blog and comment about suicide and depression and crochet... the Arts & Crafts in our world, the inspiration and beauty, has kept me from suicide many times over and kept depression at bay. The "semi colon" that shows it is not the end, not yet...

Love and Hugs to all, and Gracias mi amigas!
Catherine Todd
AtitlanArts, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, Central America
June 14, 2020 at 5:40 PM
Catherine Todd said…
Found a lot of books by Marinke Slump... thank you for mentiong this! I also found ...

Meet Marinke (Wink's Story from Crochet Saved My Life ...
https://www.crochetconcupiscence.com › 2015/07 › meet-marinke-winks-s...
Jul 6, 2015 - "As most of you know, Wink and I first “met” when she shared her story with me for Crochet Saved My Life. That was several years ago and we stayed in touch periodically online since that time. I’ve been deeply impacted by her suicide and hope that the Mandalas For Marinke remembrance project will continue to honor her through sharing her work and raising awareness about depression. Today I thought I’d share her story as it was printed in Crochet Saved My Life."

more: https://www.crochetconcupiscence.com/2015/07/meet-marinke-winks-story-from-crochet-saved-my-life/
June 14, 2020 at 5:45 PM
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