Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Coping with loss.

It's always sad when you see one that you love so much nearing the end. We have been experiencing such a thing, and will probably be for quite some time as Ethan has trouble letting go. And I must say that I feel his pain.

When I was a young child, before the mere age of four, I had one such beloved friend: Blue Blankie. Blue was, as her name would suggest, blue. But not just any blue. Blue was a soft blue material with a darker blue flower print and had a blue satin binding. Blue was the most perfect of all companions. Blue was warm when I was cold, cold when I was warm. Blue dried my tears and comforted my fears. As you may be able to tell, Blue is no more.

As I mentioned before, Blue met her demise when I was four. I caught the stomach flu (probably from one of my jealous siblings, out to sabotage our relationship, no doubt) and naturally, regurgitated on her at some point in the night. My mother tells me that Blue was already in tatters. This is where we disagree. I do not remember any such distress. In my mind, Blue was perfect. My mother even argues that had she tried to put her into the washer one more time, Blue would have come out in threads. So, in order to save the dignity of Blue, she simply placed her into the garbage can the night before trash pick-up day.

I recall clearly, sitting next to the garbage can in the garage, crying for what seemed like hours. I couldn't believe that I would no longer have Blue and was so mad at my mother's refusal to attempt Blue's resuscitation. Frequently, I tell this story at family gatherings to a rapt audience as my mother rolls her eyes.

What's that they say about what goes around...?

Ethan has had his blanket (aptly named "Blanket") since before he was born. Grandma Gailey pieced it together herself. He took it everywhere from the time he was one year old.

The binding began to wear. The piece with the chicken went first. Piece by piece, Blanket began to die.

Blanket in his glory days:
And now:

My dilemma is this: Do I take his blanket from him now, before it becomes as tattered and unstable as Blue and store it away in a box so that he can look at it when he is old or do I let him have as much time with him as the fabric will allow before I am forced to accept such an undignified exit as my Blue?

I decided to let Ethan choose, which he refuses to do. Denial. Instead, he told me his blanket was fine as he put his head through the hole in the middle.

For the time being, it is in his possession, but the clock is ticking and time is short.


What would you do?

7 comments:

  1. haha!!!! i think i would cut the cord at like 6? i don't know. that's a tough one!!!! i mean... what's wrong with a tattered blanky? its not going to hurn anyone. just take as many pics as you can for him to look at before it dies for good!!! lol. love it! you crack me up... as always.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am laughing. Again. You are hillarious. But..this is a very big problem. I'm not sure what the best solution would be. If it were me...hmmmm...what would I do? Well, I'd probably cut a square off for him to keep until it's in shreds, and I would store the rest away so he can have it to show to his own kids when the time comes. Good luck with the decision though. Keep us posted!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think you should make sure he has it close by the next time he has the stomach flu and let nature take its course.... Smile, Baby Girl!
    Maybe crafty Grandma Gailey could do some repairs if Ethan really wants to keep using it. It should be fun to take along on his first boy scout campout! Sorry--- I sound like cruel Grandma. I could traumatize you even more by telling you that in describing poor old "Blue" you managed to describe a combination of two different blankets, but I don't want to traumatize you anymore than I already have... so I'll leave it at that...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so glad you posted!!! I'm with your mom, maybe it could be repaired. My brother had a blanket like that and my mom just had to keep patching it. I have a pillow, made by my sister, that I took to college with me, and it still sits on our bed (hidden beneath all of the other pillows, that is). I am almost 28 years old, but I can't begin to fathom getting rid of it, or putting it away. That pillow has been soaked by so many of my tears that you can see the stains, and it's stuffing probably shouldn't even be called "stuffing" anymore (I think it's been restuffed 3x's). Jake has threatened to take it away from me, but I'm pretty sure he knows better than to do that.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I may be wrong, but I believe that "Blue" didn't always have a satin binding. I believe that was the result of mom's first attempt to resuscitate the poor pathetic creature. At least Blue's demise didn't include a dip in the toilet, like your poor Goofy doll...

    ReplyDelete
  6. One of my best girlfriends is 29 and still has her blanky. I had no clue what it was when I first saw it. I thought she was sleeping with a tattered dish towel. It was brownish light yellow and it looked like ripped binding was holding thrashed threads together. It was hillarious but a part of who she is. I say don't get rid of it and see how far "blanket" actually goes in life.

    ReplyDelete
  7. If you can I would try to save the blanket. If you think he is too to be dragging it around nake a deal that he gets to keep it only in his bed. My Jared is attached to a few burp rags, I am planning on sewing one into a big twin size bed so he always has one (for memory more thab comfort).good luck...I wouldn't take it away that's for sure.

    ReplyDelete