12
From the time I was born until the time I turned 7...
I had a Blankie...
She was the first of it's kind..
1960's wash and wear acrylic..
Freeing all those Mothers of countless hours as they were able to just plop it into the washing machine at any given moment...
She was absolutely gorgeous..
A soft baby blue in hue in an open basketweave that felt like cashmere upon your cheek and with the smoothest of silk satin 1 1/2" binding..
Wherever I went..
Blankie went..
I wasn't a pacifier baby..
that was my brother's gig....
I was a Blankie baby..
I would spend countless hours gliding my fingers over the cool slippery silky satin..
and at much to my Mother's chagrin..
I would move from the satin and rub my thumb knuckle over the course acrylic thread binding and then back again to the silky satin..
Over the course of those early years, she offered friendship, tranquility and security for my ever changing childhood.
Towards the end, Blankie's cashmere basketweave had become coarsely matted and quite sadly, just a mere foot in length...
What remained in tack..
was my beloved satin binding..
Still silky and still rough all at the same time.
At 7, she was left under a pillow in a San Francisco hotel and even to this day (in my forties), I lament her loss.
So as I sit here today under a beautiful blue sky, I am lovingly reminded about the number 12 and what it all means..
After 12 years..
Most warranties have expired...
Our bodies are challenging us daily..
Our minds...
well let's just say they are starting to show signs of fog..
If there are children,
they have now hit the age to be left on their own..
Individually, we have been granted more independence..
But
our dance..
our dance has become like a Fred Astaire choreographed number
and
our lives have become, as they say, smooth as silk..
But
There is still a roughness to it...
In 12 years, there is always an inevitable loss of a loved one
or perhaps
beloved friends move away...
But
like the soft yet strong open basketweave..
We have been giving each other more space to grow
Yet
we are bound stronger and tighter than ever from a thread that is surprisingly soft like cashmere but as impervious as acrylic.
So today on our 12th wedding anniversary..
I thank my beloved husband and 3 sons(minus 1)
for allowing me to be who I am..
for not allowing life's roughness to break our strings..
for giving me friendship, tranquility and security..
for the laughter and our own perfectly choreographed dance moves..
and
for the love and compassion of a family..
As 12 marks the gift of silk..
may our lives be ever so smooth...
