Catch the Wind: My Journey with Caroline

I tell Caroline that we should stay inside to keep her grandmother company. Mrs. Livingston smiles and calls me thoughtful, then asks Caroline to fetch the sewing basket. Beaming, Caroline exclaims that of course she will, and hurries off.

Mrs. Livingston turns to me and explains that she and Caroline have been spending their time sewing nightshirts for wounded soldiers and sailors. She says that surgeons often have to cut away a man’s shirt to treat wounds on his chest or arms, which can leave him with nothing but a sheet to cover himself while he heals.

Mrs. Livingston clearly wants my help, but sewing shirts sounds complicated to me. The only experience I have is a quilt square from school last year. We each sewed a square, and my teacher stitched them all together into a wedding gift for the principal. I learned straight seams, but nothing fancier than that.

I hesitate. The fact that I’ve never actually sewn clothing pulls me one way, while the thought of leaving 1812 knowing some wounded sailor might wear a shirt I helped make pulls me right back the other.