My Judy Blanket

I have a blanket that has traveled from the Mennonite Country Auction at Menno where I purchased it to our ranch where it went on picnics and boat rides.  Then it traveled with us to Spokane when we moved up there so that I could go to work for the AHEC (Area Health Education Center) at WSU Spokane.  In Spokane it saw more picnics and found a new role as a blanket for grandchildren when we had pizza in the TV room where they sat on it on the floor.

Now the Judy Blanket travels in Auntie Violet.  When we are parked somewhere, she sits on the back of the passenger chair which swivels around to face the living room.  When we travel, she plays an important role.  She covers the laid-down desk chair and prevents the wheels and the arm from scratching the cherry wood of the desk. And on rare special occasions, she once again gets to be a blanket for pizza eating grand children!

My Judy blanket is made from alternating worn blue jeans and striped overalls with a backing of new blue denim fabric.  She even has a few pockets with brass snaps (when she was new, there were napkins tucked into those pockets...).  There are also cherished Judy Blankets that live at the homes of our daughters.

These Judy Blankets are cherished not only for their beauty, toughness, utility and general usefulness, but for the lady who made them. Before the auto accident in the fog on her way to work, my friend Judy was one of the best ER nurses I have ever known. I learned so much from her in the early days of my own career. Due to severe head trauma and brain damage, Judy never practiced as a nurse after her accident, but she participated as much as possible in church activities.  Her sense of precision and order -- which she never lost -- shows in the precise measurements and placement of the squares of my blanket.

Judy passed away a few years later of hypothermia while sitting out in her garden (her sense of being cold had been impaired by the injuries from the truck that struck her...).  A wise person once told me that a person is never really gone as long as anyone still has thoughts and memories of them.  Thoughts of Judy often come to my mind as I wrap my Judy blanket around the chair wheels; or when I fold it to place her on the back of my chair; or when I glance up and see that her blues are picked up by the Chinese rug on Auntie Violet's floor. Thoughts of Judy warm me as much as my Judy Blanket!