Memories in My Hand

Since being back from the Honeymoon, there has been a lot of things to get settled around the house. After the wedding, my wedding planner brought all of our gifts and stuff from the reception over to the house. Totally fine. We just didn't have enough time before we left the next morning to clean everything up. My older sister and her family were going to stay here for a couple days and I felt completely awful that they had to deal with all this stuff laying around everywhere!! They seemed to manage. :) So, the night we returned to Wilmington, we opened all the presents from the wedding. Lots of good stuff!! :) As we opened a present, we wrote down the name of who gave it to us so that I could get to work on the "Thank You" cards. Everything was going just great, until........I opened the present my Gra'ma gave us and I just started to cry. Her present had been wrapped in a white pillow case. First reaction was me thinking, "Awesome!! I can put new pillow cases on the bed!!" What was inside the pillow case was the real deal. I pulled back the pillow case and saw different colors of pink and purple. There was fabric with beautiful flowers on one side and a star design with the pink and purple fabric on the other. There was no reason for me to pull it all the way out. I already knew what I had in my hands. My Gra'ma had made us a quilt. Tears just streamed down my face. I can't explain why honestly. This quilt, I knew, must have taken her a lot of time to put the effort, time, and energy into creating. When I was younger, one of my aunts made me a quilt. It has gotten rather ragged looking now. I used it for everything and up until last winter I still did use it for everything!! Sleeping, wrapping up on the couch with it, when I was sick, or when I was just plain cold. I used it all throughout college and when I moved back to Wilmington into my own apartment. That quilt has been good to me. It's about the size of a double bed, perhaps a little smaller, so I could never put it completely over my queen size bed. As my wedding day was approaching, I began thinking of what I truly wanted/needed for our little home. I know I never voiced any hints about wanting a quilt but in my mind, I secretly wanted her to make us one. To think, this entire time I had been wanting one and she had been working on it that whole time just brings me such joy. You see, my Gra'ma enjoys to travel. I'm not talking up to the Appalachian Mountains. I'm talking, flying to other countries kind of travel. Each time she goes on a trip, she takes one of her children or grandchildren with her. Last summer, I had the honor of traveling with her to Germany for about ten days. An incredible experience I will definitely never forget. Before that trip, I went with her to the UK when I was 13. And before that, while my Papa was still alive, they took me out west. On that trip, we were headed to Alaska but my Papa got very sick and we were only able to get to Wisconsin and had to turn around. On all these trips, my Gra'ma says that she is spending our inheritance on us while she's still alive. I have no problem with that!! :) We get to travel with her and create memories that we can't create otherwise. I will always cherish those memories. Having a quilt creates another dimension to memories that I will have. It's a memory that I can tangibly hold and touch. It might sound silly and perhaps a little childish and I know it doesn't have nearly as much meaning to anyone else. But this quilt...means a lot to me and I'm so happy to own a one-of-a-kind-hand-made-by-Mickey-King quilt. 

A hui kaua...