Luke came to me a couple of months ago blankets in hand and told me that he no longer needed them. That news broke my heart, just one more thing to show me that my little boy is growing up. I told him how sad that made me because his blankies have been a part of him for as long as we can remember, of course their relationship and need slowly changing through the years. In the beginning Luke's blankies which are named blue blankie and airplane blankie (for obvious reasons) along with a stuffed monkey named baby (which is a whole other story) went everywhere with him. From the moment Luke was lifted out of the crib in the morning the blankies came with him and were by his side all day long. They sat on the couch with him while he watched cartoons, they were wrapped around him at the table for all of his meals, they cuddled with him for every nap, they were brought outside for every bike ride and walk, they were with us for every trip in the car and rode in the cart at every store, they waited on the counter during bath time and were in the chair at bedtime to read stories and in his bed to fall asleep with every night. As he grew a little older they eventually stopped going into every store with us and could be left out in the truck, then they stopped going in the truck and could be left at home, a little older and they wouldn't even have to come down stairs in the morning and could be left in his bed and now even older he doesn't even need them in his bed. When he first gave me his blankies (now called blankets) I told him to just lay them in my room on the chair and if he ever needed them he would know where to find them. A few times when I've come to bed I've found the blankets missing which brings a smile to my face and on the other nights they usually end up in bed snuggled close to me. I don't know how I am ever going to wash them one last time and pack them away forever.
March 2011
One of his last nights with blankies
I couldn't remember at what age Luke first became attached to his blankies so I read back in his journal and the first entry talking about them was from when he was twelve months old. His favorite blankie would change all the time sometimes blue and then other times airplane. I would have to sneak them away to put them through the wash and hope that he would stay distracted long enough for them to get finished. He hated for his blankies to get warm, this happened if you touched them too much, sat on them or laid down on them, he liked to be the only one to touch them so they would stay cold. Blankies have gone everywhere with us from Mississippi to Disneyland and have even been through a surgery.
They will forever be a part of Luke's story.
