After weaving a number of tapestries where leaves or trees kept cropping into the design, I realized I had been concerned with the fact that my two sons were growing up, and they would soon be LEAVING home. So, to acknowledge that this had been the theme of a number of my works, I designed and wove this tapestry.

It is about taking chances, about daring to risk 'falling'. We live in an area filled with mountains and canyons. As a cautious mother, I often found myself saying and praying, "don't fall!". But now my sons would be going off on their own, where I wouldn't be there to warn them of risks and remind them of caution. I realized they would take risks; they would fall. And I realized that I didn't want them to go through life not taking risks, being afraid of falls that might be ahead. So this tapestry was a message to them and to myself as well, that taking risks is a necessary part of life. Falling is inevitable. It was also a reminder to me to open myself up to risk-taking as well.

Eleanor Roosevelt said to "Do one thing every day that scares you." Every mother knows that the most frightening thing a mother can do is to let her children go. But it is also the most rewarding thing to see them take risks and, whether they stumble and fall or not, to see them keep going as strong and independent people.