My great-grandmother was a crocheter and every free moment that I can remember she had a hook in her hands creating something that would wrap around and surround those she treasured in a blanket of love. She was the matriarch of our family for decades and someone I was fortunate enough to learn many essential life skills from. She taught me how to cook, how to plant and harvest crops and most importantly how to be a pillar of strength to those around me. I learned so much from her just by watching her and listening to her stories and seeing how she carried herself.
The best gift she could give me though was one that I wouldn't see come to fruition for many years. When I was about 20, I became engaged for the first time in my life. Grandma took me aside one afternoon and we went out to one of the cedar chests that she possessed. This particular one held all of the afghans that she had created, but that had not yet found a home. She dug through the blankets looking for something specific. When she found the one she was searching for she carefully unwrapped it from the tissue paper it was protectively wrapped up in. It was a beautiful, but small, blanket with soft pink, blue, white, and mint green. She held it out to me and I looked at it and was I was puzzled as I took it into my hands. What I held was obviously a baby blanket and I had no idea why she would be showing it to me.
She told me that this was a blanket that she has created for her first great, great-grandchild. At the time I told her it was beautiful, but that she would probably be better served showing it to my brother since he'd probably have children before I would. At that time I had no intentions of having any children, and later I was told by several doctors that I would never be able to get pregnant. So, it was something that I really didn't think about after that moment where she'd shown me this beautiful little creation.
Years melted away and finally she passed back into the hands of the great-mother. When I was helping my Great Aunt, Mom, and Uncle sort through her belongings after her passing, we came once again to that special cedar chest with all those hand-made afghan blankets. I remember everyone being asked if they needed or wanted another blanket. Everyone said no. Many of them had more than one that she had made especially for them, so they had no need for another. I couldn't bear to see them thrown out or donated so I took each and every one that was left. (I'm sure that my friends will understand and probably laugh at this. One of my boyfriends quipped once that I'd only be happy if it was 90 degrees inside and I had a blanket.)
It was something that I didn't actively think much more about from that point forward. I moved a few times in the within the next decade and stored a few things at my brother's place. Some of my stuff is still there as a matter of fact!
Then there came the moment that I got pregnant. I hadn't thought about that baby blanket in over a decade, but as the due date came closer and closer it was something that I couldn't get out of my mind. I rearranged the house in order to prepare for the birth of my first child. I started 'nesting' and then I called my brother. I asked him to dig through the things that I had tucked away at his home and to look for that one specific blanket. I told him what I remembered of it. It was more a small rectangle of yarn with several colors that I only vaguely recalled. To his credit, he humored me and dug through the boxes and bags to find this special little blanket.
My brother brought me the blanket the same weekend that my husband and I brought home our newest member of our family. I was able to wrap my little boy in a blanket that his great, great-grandmother had made just for him. Across several decades and though she never got a chance to meet him she was able to reach through time and space to offer comfort and love to a grandson that she knew would enter the world long before I did. She may never have claimed the label of witch, but she was certainly clairvoyant in her own way and celebrated the turning of the wheel of the year. It was her foresight that enabled him to have a piece of her heart near him!
I'm so glad that she took the time to show me that small creation of hers even though I initially dismissed its significance. I'm so happy that I listened to that voice in the back of my head that told me that I needed to keep those treasures that she had created with her own hands. I'm so blessed that my little man gets to know his great, great-grandma through one of his favorite possessions. He loves his blankie! Through this creation he will get to know her. Once he's old enough to hear and understand the stories he'll know how all those years before his conception she knew he was coming and made this special little blanket just for him. That she made sure I knew about its creation so that he'd have this small token of her love and affection because she knew she might not be there to meet him.
She was an important part of my life, a person who greatly shaped the person I'd become. I hope that through this small connection she'll help shape a part of who he'll become through her unconditional and true expression of love. This truly is love magick in its purest form!
