A few years after we bought our first house in 1995--so probably around 1998?--we inherited bunkbeds from Brad's mom for Teeny Ben and Not-So-Big Tucker. Money was really tight in those days, but I wanted them to have matching comforters. My mom was visiting for a week, so I took advantage of her mad quilting skills and planned a quilt-tying project. I took advantage of my best friend, Karen, and enlisted her skills and borrowed her quilt frames.
Not being able to afford much, I bought four twin-size flannel sheets on clearance, one king-sized bat cut in half, and a skein of red yard--for two quilts I'm sure I spent less than $40 because I remember the sheets were $3.57 apiece. The three of us tied two quilts while six little kiddos (Karen's three and my first three) ran under the quilt, or pretended it was a fort, or cried when we ignored them and quilted for too long.
What a great memory.
When I woke Hyrum up for scriptures last week, I noticed the state of the last surviving quilt. Its brother was thrown away a few years ago, loved until it was full of holes and threadbare.
Think about how much of my family's life this quilt has seen:
- How many books read with a flashlight beneath it when Mom said, "Lights out!" (This may be the last one.)
- How many forts it created--books precariously stacked on its edges
- How many movie nights
- How many tuck-in times
- How many pretend games of "house"
- How many legos and Goldfish crackers hidden in its folds
- How many times Mom begged it to be made
- How many bedtime stories
- How many deep talks
- How many adventures on the lawn or at the park
- How many drops from a humidifier or doses of cold medicine
- How many early morning scripture times it was dragged off a bed because someone needed a few extra minutes of cozy
- How many sleepovers
- How many cold nights backstage at the Easter pageant
- How many tears and snotty noses it's wiped
Seven kids and 22 years.
That's a lot of cozy.
I feel like I owe it a deep Marie Kondo "Thank you for your service" ceremony. If I can bring myself to say goodbye.
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