A Hug From Mom

I love my mom.  She’s one of the greatest women I know.  She came to visit last week while my sister was out of town defending her thesis.  Her main purpose was to take care of my niece and nephew while H was gone since my brother-in-law still had to go to work and I still had to work in the afternoons.  But I still found a little time to spend with my mommy.  I don’t get to see her very often because she lives so far away.

 

While she was here, she brought along this surprise for me.

The interesting thing about this blanket is that I helped her make the top of it.  Years ago, I sewed the top of it when it was intended for the guest room in my parents’ house.  The room had a beachy theme to it and this blanket would be perfect for it.  But then my parents were called to serve a mission for our church for three years in Germany.  So this blanket went unfinished for awhile.  Until now.  My mom found it when they came home and finished it before she came to visit so that I could have it.

 

She called it “a hug from Mom.”  You see, my mom is the only person besides D who knows all the struggles and anxieties and sadness I have been having and feeling for the last year and a half with trying to have a baby.  Those anxieties have only intensified in the last nine months as we have lived in Chicago and have had little support.  When she gave it to me, she told me that when I was not able to deal with the day that I should cuddle up in this blanket and stop thinking.

The other day, I was not having a good day.  I was overcome with anxiety and bitterness and I couldn’t be strong anymore.  So I wrapped the blanket around me, collapsed on the couch and let the tears flow.  And when D came and put his arms around me, and held me close, I felt like I was being hugged by my absolute favorite person in the world (D) as well as my second favorite person in the world (my mom) simultaneously.