It was one year ago today that we launched the app Today’s Step into the world.

What an amazing ride it has been.

I am happy to say that today on this one year anniversary we are taking the day in celebration.

Putting Today’s Step into the world was a lot more work than either of us ever dreamed it would be. Having Today’s Step in the world is more rewarding than we ever thought possible.

I’m not sure exactly how many apps we have sold over the year. (Allyson keeps track of that business.) I do know that Today’s Step has been a good thing, and it makes a difference in the lives of others.

Besides friends and family, who basically HAD to buy it, the Today’s Step app and the daily newsletter are supported by treatment centres and addiction counsellors in both Canada and the US as an aftercare support for clients. And people in recovery in Iran, Germany, France, New Zealand and other parts of the world have downloaded the app.

We aren’t rich. We still haven’t paid all the bills from production, and forget about any type of hourly wage coming to us. We didn’t create an Angry Birds app or Words with Friends; but Today’s Step is nourishing and we are very proud of it.

Allyson and I receive feedback everyday from people saying they enjoy reading the daily wisdom or that the shared stories touched and inspired them. One man I spoke to said he loves the reward chips he earns by checking in each day and looks forward to his 6 month button lighting up any day now. One person uses it the app as his morning wake up call. He sets the notification bell to go off in the morning, and said it is easier to take than a buzzer from the alarm clock first thing in the morning! The videos are a nice touch; simple and easy to follow, but not a lot of folks use them after the first week it seems. Still I’m glad they are part of the app. All sections of the app are there to encourage a daily and mindful practice for everyone.

When Allyson and I started this adventure our mission was to support and inspire a daily practice for people who seek to live a healthy life, especially those struggling with addiction of any kind. We wanted to share personal insights, offer positive actions and provide fresh perspectives for living life with purpose and clarity.

One year down the public road – we are doing this. I am very grateful for the experience.
Thank you!

Blessed are the quilt-makers, for they shall be called the piece-makers.

There are four sewing machines in this house.

One is a pure memory machine. It’s the machine my mother used the entire time I was growing up. She sat at it, making clothes or curtains, and would tell me, “One day I’ll teach you to use this.” It’s an Elna — green in colour, with a knee bar that makes it go; not a foot peddle. It has a matching green carrying case and weighs a tonne. A work horse with simple commands. I love this machine! It sits in my closet and I never learned to used it.

There are two sergers in the house. Sandie gave me one when we moved to Canada. She used it for years, making shirts, and shorts for Joe and Ken. She made a jump suit for me out of a salted, purple and blue, batik fabric. I wore the jumpsuit to my Grandma’s 90th birthday party in Virginia and was called a hippie! I was a hippie so it didn’t bother me.

I always thought I would learn to use the serger to make clothes, but I never figured out how to thread the thing.

Linda gave me another serger not too long ago. She got it from Murray when our friend Jan died. It’s still in the box — another memory machine.

Then there is the Quilters Dream! Again from my moms stuff.

I use this one.

On the first anniversary of mothers death, my friend Rhonda and I took it out of the box, read the instructions and I started using it for piecing quilts. This machine is a dream. It is my firm belief that with this machine, all you have to do is whisper, “Make me something pretty” and push the right button. It works smooth as silk. I’ve made A LOT of quilts with this baby.

Yesterday I thought of Laura, from up north, who offered the sage advice to ask myself, what do I want to keep, as I sort through stuff.  I’m not the hoarder my mother was, and yet, I can hang on to things I don’t use. This question from Laura is helping me to let go of the stuff, but not the memories they trigger and hold.

This week I am hoping that two of these machines will go out of the house and into another. A young woman who makes her living sewing, will see the machines. She can make her own memories with them, and then maybe — just maybe, her daughter will have a memory of her mom or perhaps her friend sitting at a sewing machine, like I do.