Wednesday, January 19, 2011

TEARS

Remember yesterday when I talked about the most heartfelt Christmas gift???
***
Christmas morning we were just finishing unwrapping our gifts, only a couple more left. One of those happened to be from my mom to Hunter Dan and I. It was sad this year to see the tags read only from my mom, or "love from Grandma". I told Hunter Dan to go ahead and open it since it was to both of us....after he tore off the paper and opened the box, I looked up to see what we had been given. Mom is really good about things like food storage as gifts and I love that, so I just assumed it would be something along those lines....I could not have been more wrong....
...or surprised
...or touched
...it didn't take any more time than just glancing in the box to realize what she had done.
This may look like a simple quilt....but it is soooo much more....
This block is from....

...this shirt.

This one from...

This one from...
the shirt he was wearing when he snuggled my new baby on Lil' Squishy faces first trip to Idaho.
In the card attached to the quilt were these words...
***
Dear Tanielle and Hunter Dan,
I was packing up some of Dad's clothes for the DI(a thrift store) when I decided to give you kids one more memory of him. I think you will recognize that the squares in this quilt are from 14 of the most recent and favorite shirts of his, and the last pairs of levis before he left this earth. I wanted to do this, and I really felt the warmth of him as I was sewing, so I think he approved.
She of course ended the card by telling us how much she loved us and how she hoped we had a very Merry Christmas.
She not only made one for us, but my FIVE other living siblings as well.
When I hold this quilt I can smell him. I am sooo grateful to my mom for doing this for us, it means more than I can even explain....and since as I am typing this I am sobbing(because lets face it I am one emotional gal...all the time), and can't see the screen anymore I will end it by showing you what she hand-stitched on my amazing "dad quilt".
Sure do miss this guy!!!
Thank-you mom, I love you so much!

23 comments:

Xazmin said...

I love that present so much! And I love you! You have an amazing mom...and you take so much after her!

Mamarazzi said...

sweetest gift ever. i love this.

KiraAJ said...

aww honey...u have me in tears! What an amazing heart felt gift... wow so special <3

Joy For Your Journey said...

Oh my!! What a wonderful, sweet gift that will be treasured forever!!

Princess of Everything (and then some) said...

I am sitting here crying. What a wonderful gift. Your mom is so awesome. And I live seeing the pics of him wearing a shirt and then seeing it in the quilt.

Connie said...

This post brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful gift. It must have been an emotional time for your Mom while making the quilt.

The last picture is awesome!

Sheila said...

Great! Now I'm crying with you! That is the most sweetest perfect gift EVER!!!
I love your momma and I don't eve know her!!
I know that is something you will treasure forever!

Shawn said...

I am officially ugly crying! What a sweet, sweet gift!

Sami said...

Alright, I don't really know you that well, even though I've been following you for a while, but this post made me bawl. Like REALLY bawl. What an amazing gift from your mom!
LOVE IT!!!

lori said...

What an amazing treasure!! Your mom is the sweetest woman!!!

Annikke said...

Oh my goodness gracious. That has to be the sweetest gift ever. I cried reading this thinking about how much that quilt must mean to you. This is something that everyone will treasure! What a great idea your mom had to do this!

kimert said...

Sweetest gift ever.

Brandy@YDK said...

that is so awesome.

Julie Anne said...

The quilt is pure Bonnie Draper, absolutely. What a priceless heirloom it is. How did she find hours in the day to create those quilts in time for Christmas? It only happened because of hours at the cutting table and sewing machine! What a Mom!

Julie Anne said...

The quilt is pure Bonnie Draper, absolutely. What a priceless heirloom it is. How did she find hours in the day to create those quilts in time for Christmas? It only happened because of hours at the cutting table and sewing machine! What a Mom!

Myya said...

Tears are streaming down my face. I knew what this was before I even got to the description of it all. I remembered those pictures & his shirts. Your mom is amazing. What a wonderful, beautiful gift!

Rhonda said...

That is such a wonderful, heartfelt gift...so special. Sniff, sniff! What a wonderful mom to do that!

Hugs!

Kelly said...

OMG, I am in tears! So precious! I love this gift!

Vivienne @ the V Spot said...

OMGosh, I am in complete tears here! What a wonderful, special gift.

shortmama said...

Oh that is just beautiful Tanielle. What an amazing gift that your mom gave you...the gift of your dad forever

Heather said...

I just stumbled across your blog today and this quilt from your mom made me smile. I lost my father in April of last year. My daughter and I each have one of Dad's sweaters, but wow, I sure wish I'd thought of this before Mom gave all his clothes away. Love it, and love your mom's stamina for doing six of these!

Amy said...

I just came across your blog this morning. I lost my dad very suddenly on Jan 2, 2008. The pain isn't as raw now, 3 years later, but I miss him so. My mom followed him to the Heavenly Father on Nov. 13, 2009. I can't believe both of my parents are no longer on this earth. Oh, but how blessed I was to have them for 35 and 37 yrs respectively. I'm commenting because I have a couple of shirts of my dad's and a cotton house coat of my Mom's, and though I will have to put other materials with it, I am going to make myself a quilt using those items. Thank you so much for sharing this post. You've been an inspiration to me this morning. God Bless.

Debilou ~ Mississippi Mama said...

Im a little late seeing this but I just had to say what a nice and priceless gift your mother gave you.. a treasure for sure.