For Christmas I got these cute “Stop me before I volunteer again” sticky notes.
I get the hint. I have a problem saying “no” — especially when it comes to my community. And I’ve been pretty good at scaling back so I can devote my attention more fully to the projects I take on rather than spreading myself too thin.
But, when my son asked me to help with his school’s service project, I couldn’t say no. Not this time.
My son’s class is participating in the Project Linus, which makes blankets — large and small — for children and adults in need. He and his fellow students are each making fleece blankets for young children.
The project brought back a flood of memories and strong emotions.
Back when my son was born, he had to pretty quickly undergo some pretty serious surgery before we could take him home. He was our first child and the whole ordeal was, as you would expect, pretty terrifying.
I’ve managed to push many of the most frightening parts of the experience from my mind. But I have vivid memories of the positive moments, the things and people who got me and my husband through the diagnosis, surgery and recovery: the pastor who baptized my son with tap water and an emesis basin; the anesthesiologist who calmed me with a kind word and gentle hand as I let my son go into surgery; and the blanket some anonymous volunteer gave us when my son first arrived at the pediatric ICU.
I still have that blanket. It comforted me and my boy until the doctors whisked him away. And, rolled up, it propped his legs during his recovery. I’d all but forgotten the little knitted baby blanket, which I’d tucked away in my son’s memory box.
But when I learned my son was working on a project to provide the same sort of comfort we received 11 years ago, I immediately jumped at the chance to contribute.
Here’s my boy with the blanket gifted anonymously to us.
And here’s the one I crocheted for the project.
Virtual Farmgirl 