Beautiful Blanket

Beautiful Blanket

My very dear friend Michele and her mom made this beautiful blanket for me. Soon after the kids were diagnosed, I asked Michele if she would be willing to make a quilt from baby clothing and other items I have saved for the kids. I thought it would be a wonderful way to "warm myself with good memories". They did such an incredible job!! I was so excited when the box arrived yesterday. I cried hard when I unrolled the blanket and went over each patchwork piece to remember where it came from. Such good memories...

Comments

aprilfoolwed said…

Shannon - your quilt is beautiful - what a lovely piece to have!

March 13, 2009 at 6:45 PM

Ellen said…

shannon - that is sooo awesome. i hope to make one for each of my girls out of their baby clothes. (and we have several t shirt quilts made out of brian and my t shirts - got the idea from michele's friend, mia) what a wonderful gift that will make you happy for a very long time.

March 13, 2009 at 9:24 PM

Whitney said…

So beautiful! That is a great idea and something I am sure you will treasure forever.

March 13, 2009 at 9:31 PM

mykidsmomx4 said…

Beautiful. I know it is something you will cherish forever.

Lauren's first Christmas, I bought her dad a quilt that had 12 Solid blocks amidst the Christmas themed ones. I covered her hand in gold fabric paint and made a handprint on the first one. I also gave him the gold paint so he could do every year at Christmas for 12 years. That was way before Lauren was diagnosed or there was even a hint of a problem.

March 14, 2009 at 2:05 AM

Anonymous said…

Wonderful idea!! I want one! I'm so glad you had a friend that could do this for you.

March 14, 2009 at 8:30 AM

Valerie Nelson said…

That is a wonderful idea, Shannon! Such beautiful memories! I often snuggle with Caitlyn's quilt or stuffed lamb...it's comforting. This really is so beautiful, Shannon! Love, Valerie

March 14, 2009 at 4:34 PM

Jenkins said…

Seriously FANTASTIC!

March 14, 2009 at 7:50 PM

Unknown said…

Shannon! That is awesome! The blanket looks so beautiful in the picture- I hope it brings you such peace thinking of all the wonderful memories :)

March 16, 2009 at 9:13 AM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.