Passing The Torch ~Author unknown~ so far.

Is there a magic cutoff period when offspring become accountable for their own actions?

Is there a wonderful moment when parents can become detached spectators in the lives of their children and shrug, 'It's their life," and feel nothing?

When I was in my twenties, I stood in a hospital corridor waiting for doctors to put a few stitches in my son's head. I asked, "when do you stop worrying?" The nurse said, "When they get out of the accident stage." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my thirties, I sat on a little chair in a classroom and heard how one of my children talked incessantly, disrupted the class, and was headed for a career making license plates. As if to read my mind, a teacher said, "Don't worry, they all go through this stage and then you can sit back, relax and enjoy them." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

When I was in my forties, I spent a lifetime waiting for the phone to ring, the cars to come home, the front door to open. A friend said, "They're trying to find themselves. Don't worry, in a few years, you can stop worrying. They'll be adults." My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing.

By the time I was 50, I was sick and tired of being vulnerable. I was still worrying over my children, but there was a new wrinkle. There was nothing I could do about it. My mother just smiled faintly and said nothing. I continued to anguish over their failures, be tormented by their frustrations and absorbed in their disappointments.

My friends said that when my kids got married - I could stop worrying and lead my own life. I wanted to believe that, but I was haunted by my mother's warm smile and her occasional, "You look pale. Are you all right" Call me the minute you get home. Are you depressed about something?"

Can it be that parents are sentenced to a lifetime of worry? Is concern for one another haded down like a torch to blaze the trail of human frailties and the fears of the unknown? Is concern a curse or is it a virtue that elevates us to the highest form of life?

One of my children became quite irritable recently, saying to me, "Where were you? I've been calling for 3 days, and no one answered, I was worried." I smiled a warm smile.

The torch has been passed.

Swiss Fashion Designer ~ Fred Affolter

Fred and Rose Affolter

As a young man, Fred was drawn towards music, acting and sewing. He trained as a fashion designer in Lausanne, Switzerland and in Paris, where he gradually turned to women's fashions. Rose studied to be a teacher in home economics and later changed to fashion design. Fred and Rose married in 1943; they opened their own couture establishment in Granges, Switzerland in 1950.

The Affolters' customers were fashionable wealthy women who like exclusive evening designs made of expensive imported material. Fred became well known for his original designs using lace and St. Ball embroideries. Many of his designs were double face, made of silk and wool and entirely reversible. Fred also designed elegant flexible garments, were sleeves could be removed or coats shortened. Partner suits, with matching dress and suit for the lady and gentleman, were also very popular.

Fred and Rose held fashion shows throughout Switzerland to showcase their exclusive designs. Fred became known as the 'Singing Dior', for he would often present his models with a rose and sing a suitable song as a finale. The highlight of their career was a fashion show held in Cairo during Expo '76, where they were able to work with luxurious expensive materials and original designs to showcase embroideries from Switzerland. Many of the garments and photographs in this exhibit are from this show.

Fred and Rose retired in 1980 and moved to Trinity Valley near Enderby to be with their children. Fred has been making unique, original quilts and wall hangings for the last 20 years, using samples and scraps of the luxurious materials, lace and embroidery collected during his years as a couturier.

Thank you, Fred and Rose,

for sharing your life's work

with our community.

Enderby and District Museum and the Enderby and District Arts Council