"Cape Hatteras" by Fulmer Craft - National Park Needlework Collector Series - Framed

I promised the story behind this, so here it is. My brother Barry, who died of lung cancer last year at the age of 53, loved lighthouses. He especially loved this one, which stands on the shore of North Carolina, where he lived. Back in about 1961, our family moved to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, from Panama. Daddy felt it was important for us to see our country's heritage, so we spent many weekends traveling in Virginia and North Carolina. I remember very well our trip to Kitty Hawk, where the Wright Brothers flew their little plane, and to Cape Hatteras, where we visited the famous striped lighthouse. At that time, Barry was about 8 years old and was a big fan of GI Joe. He also was very clever, and created numerous parachutes for his GI Joe figures. When we went to Cape Hatteras, Barry saw the perfect opportunity to launch his parachutes from a great height. Time and time again he climbed the staircase inside the lighthouse up to the top, where he threw his GI Joe figure and parachute into the winds. We all watched the figure float down to the beach, where Barry scooped it up and ran once more to the lighthouse for another climb to the top.

As the years went by and we grew up and moved to opposite sides of the country, I would not forget his love of this lighthouse. I sent him a ceramic figurine of it once, and I still covet the one he painted which hangs at my mother's house. I saw this design at the Iron Kettle store in Cody, Wyoming this summer, and knew I had to stitch it for his wife, Alice. I hope she likes it. I'm sure she will.