String Blankie

Who knew 3 years and 10 months ago that some embroidery threads attached to a blanket would become so essential? Four years ago yesterday (August 11, 2005), David’s mother passed away unexpectedly. She was vibrant and active until the moment her heart stopped and she was gone. She was making receiving blankets for our baby girl due in October at the time. David’s younger brother and his wife were expecting a baby the end of August when we lost Grandma Rolfs. The blankets Mary was making for me suddenly had a HUGE sentimental value so David and I gave them to his brother. To cushion our loss, another sister-in-law promised to make some receiving blankets for me to replace the ones we’d given away. She made two beautiful blankets. A pink one and a yellow one with stars. For decoration, she hand-stitched embroidery thread around each blanket. Mary arrived in October and we lovingly wrapped her in those blankets. As she grew, she fell in love with her blankies. She loved them because of those strings. Mary soon pulled the embroidery thread out in several places. She would wrap the loose threads around her finger before rubbing the wrapped finger under her nose while she sucked two fingers from her other hand. We quickly learned that we could not forget to bring along the string blankies or things would be miserable for all of us. Last year on our vacation through the SouthWest, Mary’s blankies finally ran out of string. She started pulling her hair out to replace them. She was bald on one side before I could repair her blankets. Her string blankets can fix any owie, comfort any insult, chase away any fear, and add to any joy. They have helped her transition from nursery to Sunbeams at church. This year, on our trip to Wyoming, I put the kids to bed before seeking some quiet time with my Mom and Dad. I could hear Mary whimpering upstairs. I assumed she was afraid of being in a new place. When I went up to comfort her, she started to cry because she’d pulled all of the strings off her blanket. I had to do an emergency reattachment, but with what? Thank goodness my Mom had a crocheted wash cloth that she let me cut apart to harvest new strings. I sewed them on and we were good to go. Unfortunately, they have all come off AGAIN. So tonight I sewed three new strings onto her blanket with my sewing machine. I dare them to come off this time. I am sad that we’ve actually lost both of the original string blankies. When you take them everywhere, it’s easy to lose them. But the concept has remained with us - a blanket is only good if it has a string to wrap around your fingers and rub under your nose. I am already dreading the day when these blankets stop being so important to my baby girl. They will always mean a lot to me. They symbolize the beauty a child brings to the world, they remind me of my Mother-in-law who we miss terribly, they teach me every day that the simplest things are usually the most precious things in life, and that small kindnesses given to us by others (like my sister-in-law) means the world is and always will be a good place.