Project Linus is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children in need by creating beautiful hand-crafted blankets. This is a story of how I came to learn of this wonderful organization:

My mother died last year, and as I was going through her house, picking out the mementos that I wanted to keep to remember her by, I came across a blanket that her cousin, Anita Blackman, had recently sent her. It had a Kokopelli pattern, a Pueblo character who plays the flute that I have always liked. This blanket, along with other items that I had picked that day, became very special to me.

I was to perform her memorial and graveside service in upstate New York, but having never done anything like that before, there were details that I hadn’t thought through. As I was making last-minute preparations, running through the service in my mind, I realized that I didn’t quite know how the urn was going to be lowered into the ground. Uh-Oh! Then I remembered the blanket and how it had tassels along the edges that would be easy to grip. “But i’d have to give up my blanket!!!”, I thought.

I wasn’t sure how my cousin would feel about this, so I called her and asked if it would be okay. That’s when she explained that she had made the blanket as a member of Project Linus and about the group of ladies who get together for fellowship, fun and making blankets for children who are in need of comfort. How absolutely fitting for my mother to be laid to rest wrapped in this blanket of love! I instructed my siblings to lower the urn and then to be sure to cover it with the blanket!

Today, I picked up my mail and received a package from my cousin. It was another Linus blanket, to replace the one that I returned to mom. This one has horses and mountains and trees on it. The scene is exactly how I would picture heaven to be. It is draped over the back of my couch and will always give me comfort and remind me of where she is now. I may be 42 years old…but everyone who has a parent is still a child.

Saturday, February 20, 2010 is “Make a Blanket Day”. Please visit their web site at www.projectlinus.org, and learn about this wonderful organization! Thanks Anita! And thanks to the “blanketeers” of Project Linus!

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