When my mom's 86th birthday was approaching, Lauren decided that she wanted to make a fleece tie blanket for Grandma. Lauren was almost 8 at the time and had become quite close to Grandma, especially since Grandpa's death. Together, Lauren and I went to the fabric store to pick out the fleece. When we saw the right fabric, we both knew it. It was pink with butterflies. Grandma's favorite color was pink and she would love the butterflies. We also picked a hot pink for the back of the blanket. I helped Lauren with some of the cutting, but she tied the whole blanket. The blanket was wrapped in a large box covered with pink wrapping paper. Grandma had Lauren help her unwrap the present. My mom loved that blanket. She loved that it was pink and had butterflies. But most of all, she loved that Lauren had made it for her with love.
By this point, my mom was having trouble getting around much. She spent a lot of her time sitting in her living room in her lift chair. She even slept there at night. When we visited, she would ask us to help cover her with blankets when she was going to sleep. She was always cold so she liked to have more than one blanket covering her. When I covered her, I put the pink blanket from Lauren (from now on I'll call it The Grandma Blanket) on last so that she could see it. She asked me to re-do it, putting The Grandma Blanket on first so that it could be closer to her heart. For more than a year, Mother used that blanket every single day. And I have no doubt that she thought of Lauren every time and felt her love.
Shortly after she went into the nursing home, Mother asked to have The Grandma Blanket brought there. There she used it as the top cover. I am sure that was mostly so she could show it to all who visited her. She never failed to tell anyone that her granddaughter, Lauren, had made it for her. When Mother was kept in the hospital in LaCrosse, after her appointment on June 8, she was without that blanket for a few days. When we visited her that weekend, after finding out she had cancer, Eric and the kids went back to the Caledonia nursing home to get The Grandma Blanket and Daddy's picture for my mom. Grandma was very happy to have that blanket back again. From that day on, it covered her and blanketed her with Lauren's love.
As the days went on and we knew her time with us was coming to an end, I wondered what we should do with that blanket when Mother died. Part of me wanted to bury the blanket with my mom so that it would always be close to her heart. Part of me wanted to give it back to Lauren so she could always feel Grandma's love. I talked to some of my sisters about it a little. I even talked to my mom about it. I don't know if I talked out loud with her or if it was just our hearts talking to each other. I know that she didn't speak out loud to me about it, but I could hear what she was telling me. She wanted Lauren to have it. Anything that would help Lauren after she was gone, was what she wanted. She knew the rough time Lauren had when Grandpa died and didn't want her to hurt so badly again. Then I had an idea in my heart and I knew that Mother's heart agreed.
When my mom died, Eric, Evan and Lauren were at home in the twin cities. Danielle was in Rockford, Illinois (more to follow on that in another entry). I called home later that evening and talked to Evan and Lauren to let them know I was OK. I remember telling each of them that I was certain Grandma was in Heaven with Grandpa. I then told Lauren that I had an idea about what to do with The Grandma Blanket. I told her it was up to her, but my thought was to cut the blanket in half and re-tie the cut edge on each half. Then we could send half of it with Grandma and she could keep the other half. Lauren immediately agreed and told me that as soon as I said I had an idea, the very same idea popped into her mind.
So, we brought the blanket home with us and I made the necessary cut. It was hard for me to do, but I knew both Lauren and Grandma were on board. Lauren tied the new edge on each of the blankets. I admit I didn't do a perfect job in my cutting. Lauren quickly decided that the blanket that looked better would go with Grandma.
When we met with Jeff (the funeral director) to plan the funeral, I told him our idea and asked if it would work. He, of course, said yes. At that point, I'm sure nothing I asked or told him would surprise him! Still, I amazed at how wonderfully he made the blanket work. While the new blanket seemed tiny compared to the original, it was the perfect size to fit in the casket. He placed it over Grandma's legs. Most of it didn't show when the lower cover of the casket was closed. But several inches showed and Grandma's hands were lovingly crossed on top of the blanket. It was beautiful and complimented the pink that she was wearing. So many people commented on the blanket and told Lauren what a great job she had done.
As for Lauren's half of The Grandma Blanket, it is draped across the foot of her bed. Some mornings, Lauren will come downstairs with the blanket around her shoulders. Sometimes, her two special bears (another blog entry idea) are wrapped in the blanket. If she's scared in the night, we pull the blanket up from the foot of her bed. When we go somewhere overnight, The Grandma Blanket goes with us. I am sure Grandma is smiling as she looks down from Heaven and sees that blanket is as special to Lauren as it was to her. Grandma said she wanted that special blanket closest to her heart. As much as she felt Lauren's love from the blanket, I'm pretty certain that some of the love from her own heart spilled out onto The Grandma Blanket. I feel it every time I see the blanket.
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