Comfort of ole brown

A couple years ago after my dear grandmother Tai Tai died the family gathered in her room and went through her closet. There were a lot of clothes and her tiny shoes to donate. There were trinkets from here, there, near and far that held a special memory from the millions of miles she traveled. Enough costume jewelry to fulfill every little girl’s dream of dress up. Of course among the fake was the staple to every outfit; strand of pearls. You were never fully dressed until the pearls draped around your neck! Then somewhere in her goody bag closet were blankets. One was a pink itchy blanket that accompanied her to every hospital stay she ever endured. I eagerly asked for it. It wasn't functional but it had sentimental value. The other blanket was made of a luxurious cashmere with an ugly side; its color being poop brown. There was no story behind that blanket, nothing special that made it stand out, but for some reason I took it because it was my grandmothers and I was grasping at every tangible thing left of her. Since that beautiful June day these two blankets hung in my closet freshly laundered waiting for their next task. When I packed my hospital bag to have Margaret Ruth I saw those blankets I figured I'd continue the tradition and take the itchy feminine blanket, but as I felt it I realized it was just pretty with no realistic function. So, I decided on the poop blanket b/c it wouldn't irritate my new baby’s skin and would be softer than her. Since then every time we enter the hospital I always have this blanket with me. It has become a comfort in times of instability. Has watched me birth two children, sat in the hospital room with Payson for months awaiting my visits and been packed in those emergent rushes out the door to the ER. At the end of a long frustrating hospital visit it brings me comfort to be able to pull this cherished blanket out of my bag and have it keep me warm in these cold hospital rooms. So, as I sit here once again in a cold isolated room I am finding the warmth from trusty ole brown especially nice when all that surrounds me is unfamiliar.