I had a blanket for a good chunk of my childhood years.
I can't even picture it now, but I know I had one, I loved it and made sure it was with me in case of spontaneous naps or sleepovers.
Maybe I can't remember what it looked like because of that dreadful day that my family went camping at Bodega Bay.
Why does getting to the beach in Northern California require such winding roads?
I think thats where my blanket's demise began, on a highway to Bodega Bay.
For some reason I was riding with my Uncle and Aunt in their van. Not like a cool mini-van, but one of those cargo types that are often spoken of in child abduction or murder cases. How fitting my blankie's death was set into motion in a murder van.
So I had my blanket with me in the van, the road was winding, I puked on my blanket. Typing this now just sounds ridiculous. Did I really puke on my blanket?
We arrived at the campground and my vomit blanket was sequestered outside in a bag. The plan was to wash it out when we got home or something. Unfortunately, after my uncle and grandpa had gone clam digging one morning they saw fit to put their shovels and other clam digging stuff on or maybe in the bag of my vomit blanket.
As if a weekend of sitting in vomit wasn't already enough, the clams took the blanket over the edge that my mom wasn't going for. My dad carried me (maybe that didn't happen for real but that's how I remember it) to a dumpster and we deposited the vomit/clam gut blanket. I think there was a speech but I'm not sure. That's the last I saw of my blankie.
Maybe it was the trauma of losing my beloved blanket or just the fact that cuddly blankets are awesome that blankets hold a special place in my life. I have blankets all over the house piled in a basket, stuffed in an ottoman, or layer over the back of the couch. And my family has also become big blankie cuddlers. From the moment the boys were born to this day, they have always enjoyed snuggling a special blanket. Gabe has 3 of varying sizes and purposes, Eli has an oversized twin blanket that he hauls all over the house. Its what we do, we curl up in blankets. We may even keep the house a little cooler just so we can still snuggle up.
The thought of taking a nap, going on a long car ride or even laying on the couch watching TV without a blanket is just unimaginable to me. So, imagine my horror when I found my dear friend in the hospital without one. About two weeks ago I went to the hospital to visit a friend who has been in an out of the hospital for over a month now and was transferred up to Seattle for specialized care. I walked in to the dark room and was shocked that she was laying there in that hospital bed with no blanket! And she had been there for 4 days. One day, understandable, nobody had a chance yet to go home and get a blanket, but 4. Its a crime. She had the sandpaper hospital sheets covering her and probably one of those itchy waffle hospital blankets but NO COZY blanket. I remember being so confused as to how someone could be in the hospital without a blankie to cuddle with. Was her family trying to torture her? I contemplated rushing to my local Target to pick her up something but I didn't have time to go and come back before visiting hours were over! That night I prayed that someone in her family who was visiting the next day would remember a blanket!
Over the years I have probably purchased friends and family a few dozen blankets. Christmas decorated blankets, cozy blankets when a friend was going to be on bed rest for a few weeks, baby blankets, you name it. I've also received some awesome blankets. I have one that my mom and sister made for Matt and I for our 5 year anniversary, the boys have had many quilts and blankets made for them, and most recently my friend crocheted me an adult size cozy baby blanket that weighs about 20 pounds of awesome. Apparently its an obsession of mine.
I can't put my finger on it, I don't know why, but I clearly have put more meaning into a blanket that merely warmth.
On that day that my grandma died, we saw that her time was getting close to the end. She was laying on the bed covered with a sheet. It was August in California after all, there isn't much need for a blanket. I had been fine with the sheet for weeks as she was laying in her bed, but suddenly I had an overwhelming desire to cover her in a cozy blanket. I looked to my Aunt and suggested we get grandma a blanket, and my aunt very sweetly was trying to tell me she didn't need it. My argument was simply "but she's dying, she needs a cozy blanket". My mom gave my Aunt a look that said "my daughter is crazy just go with it" and my aunt fetched a blanket for me to lay over my dying grandma.
I suppose she didn't really need that blanket, maybe it was just one more thing for us to wash in then end, but I needed her to have that blanket.
So I really just want to make it very clear that if I am ever in the hospital someone better make sure that I have a nice cuddley blanket there because one cannot truly heal without it. And if I am dying, on the side of the rode or in my own bed or anywhere where a blanket can be put on me, someone better darn well grab a blanket and cover me up.
I can't even picture it now, but I know I had one, I loved it and made sure it was with me in case of spontaneous naps or sleepovers.
Maybe I can't remember what it looked like because of that dreadful day that my family went camping at Bodega Bay.
Why does getting to the beach in Northern California require such winding roads?
I think thats where my blanket's demise began, on a highway to Bodega Bay.
For some reason I was riding with my Uncle and Aunt in their van. Not like a cool mini-van, but one of those cargo types that are often spoken of in child abduction or murder cases. How fitting my blankie's death was set into motion in a murder van.
So I had my blanket with me in the van, the road was winding, I puked on my blanket. Typing this now just sounds ridiculous. Did I really puke on my blanket?
We arrived at the campground and my vomit blanket was sequestered outside in a bag. The plan was to wash it out when we got home or something. Unfortunately, after my uncle and grandpa had gone clam digging one morning they saw fit to put their shovels and other clam digging stuff on or maybe in the bag of my vomit blanket.
As if a weekend of sitting in vomit wasn't already enough, the clams took the blanket over the edge that my mom wasn't going for. My dad carried me (maybe that didn't happen for real but that's how I remember it) to a dumpster and we deposited the vomit/clam gut blanket. I think there was a speech but I'm not sure. That's the last I saw of my blankie.
Maybe it was the trauma of losing my beloved blanket or just the fact that cuddly blankets are awesome that blankets hold a special place in my life. I have blankets all over the house piled in a basket, stuffed in an ottoman, or layer over the back of the couch. And my family has also become big blankie cuddlers. From the moment the boys were born to this day, they have always enjoyed snuggling a special blanket. Gabe has 3 of varying sizes and purposes, Eli has an oversized twin blanket that he hauls all over the house. Its what we do, we curl up in blankets. We may even keep the house a little cooler just so we can still snuggle up.
The thought of taking a nap, going on a long car ride or even laying on the couch watching TV without a blanket is just unimaginable to me. So, imagine my horror when I found my dear friend in the hospital without one. About two weeks ago I went to the hospital to visit a friend who has been in an out of the hospital for over a month now and was transferred up to Seattle for specialized care. I walked in to the dark room and was shocked that she was laying there in that hospital bed with no blanket! And she had been there for 4 days. One day, understandable, nobody had a chance yet to go home and get a blanket, but 4. Its a crime. She had the sandpaper hospital sheets covering her and probably one of those itchy waffle hospital blankets but NO COZY blanket. I remember being so confused as to how someone could be in the hospital without a blankie to cuddle with. Was her family trying to torture her? I contemplated rushing to my local Target to pick her up something but I didn't have time to go and come back before visiting hours were over! That night I prayed that someone in her family who was visiting the next day would remember a blanket!
Over the years I have probably purchased friends and family a few dozen blankets. Christmas decorated blankets, cozy blankets when a friend was going to be on bed rest for a few weeks, baby blankets, you name it. I've also received some awesome blankets. I have one that my mom and sister made for Matt and I for our 5 year anniversary, the boys have had many quilts and blankets made for them, and most recently my friend crocheted me an adult size cozy baby blanket that weighs about 20 pounds of awesome. Apparently its an obsession of mine.
I can't put my finger on it, I don't know why, but I clearly have put more meaning into a blanket that merely warmth.
On that day that my grandma died, we saw that her time was getting close to the end. She was laying on the bed covered with a sheet. It was August in California after all, there isn't much need for a blanket. I had been fine with the sheet for weeks as she was laying in her bed, but suddenly I had an overwhelming desire to cover her in a cozy blanket. I looked to my Aunt and suggested we get grandma a blanket, and my aunt very sweetly was trying to tell me she didn't need it. My argument was simply "but she's dying, she needs a cozy blanket". My mom gave my Aunt a look that said "my daughter is crazy just go with it" and my aunt fetched a blanket for me to lay over my dying grandma.
I suppose she didn't really need that blanket, maybe it was just one more thing for us to wash in then end, but I needed her to have that blanket.
So I really just want to make it very clear that if I am ever in the hospital someone better make sure that I have a nice cuddley blanket there because one cannot truly heal without it. And if I am dying, on the side of the rode or in my own bed or anywhere where a blanket can be put on me, someone better darn well grab a blanket and cover me up.
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