the rest of the story

I allowed Brit access to my blog so that she could share a bit about the quilt that she has spent a good part of the last 12 months creating for me. If you click over to her blog, you can piece together more of her experience mixed in with the many posts on her adorable family, being a mommy, a wife, a runner, etc. Now that Brit has posted her story, I thought I’d write about the same quilt from my side.

In some ways, it seems like a long time since I handed Brit the bag of Tom’s clothing.

I selected my favorite shirts of his:

• The one that he wore on many a special occasion.
• The one that was amazingly soft and made his amazing blue eyes stand out.
• The one he wore to spread Papa’s ashes — which I slobbered all over when he held me to cry.

There are so many memories with each piece of clothing. One never thinks of things like this – until something like this happens. Believe me; going through the closets and drawers of your deceased husband is no easy task. Having a year to do work up to the task was just about right.

Deep in the bowels of that closet, I came across a few items of clothing that were long forgotten. For the life of me, I have no idea why he kept these things, but I am glad that he did. Among them, was a jean jacket that Tom had worn when we were first dating and he was of anorexic proportion. I sometimes wore it when we were out on a date and it got cold. There was also the tee shirt which I had given to Tom when the boys and I visited Lisa in Washington after she moved away. YaYa was 2 and BoBo was 8 years old at the time. In that closet, there were a few other treasures, and many items I considered “junk.” And I shed a whole lot of tears.

But it wasn’t tears on the day that we met for the handoff. Instead, it was filled with much laughter and hope. Brit, Mia and I picked up right where we had left off the year before, filling in the gaps-not-blogged and basking in the friendship built across the blogosphere. That’s how it is with blogger meet ups.

I also got to meet Mr. Running Stitch, who was charming and funny in a way that reminds me a lot of Tom. So when he got cold, it was without hesitation that I insisted he put on one of Tom’s shirts to warm up. True to form our meet-up extended well into the evening. I must admit, he wore it well. We exchanged hugs, and then I cried in the MommyVan as I watched them walk off with that bag of memories.

And then I waited…

Brit shared bits of the progress of her creation on her blog along the way. We emailed and IM’d as well. I knew, from prior experience, that the process would not be easy emotionally and physically. Working with fabric that has been stretched, washed repeatedly, and worn out is not easy. However, Brit is very talented at what she does, and what she does is quilting — so I had nothing to worry about — or so I thought.

Earlier this month, Brit’s quilt square for the running themed quilting round robin (which I have failed to write about yet) was delayed in its arrival to my house. It was with much reservation that I left town. While away, I called my brother repeatedly to ask him if the package had arrived. And FINALLY, it did.

Brit mailed the memory quilt and we both said a few prayers. Once more, I anxiously waited. From her house, Brit waited too.

I was in the kitchen preparing to go for a short run when I heard my front gate open. I glanced behind me to see the mail truck parked on the street. Much like a little girl hearing Santa arrive, I rushed to the door to find my package awaiting. “Thank you,” I yelled to the mail carrier. He smiled at me and drove away.

I carried my box inside to open my special gift. Of course, I took pictures of each step so that I could share with Brit (and you all as well.)