Tigger, my love

When I was a baby, my mom would put me in a kitchen drawer with a baby blanket that was given to me when I was born. Thus began a long, loving and lasting relationship. My blankie was named Tigger because he had pictures of -you guessed it- Tigger. He was bright orange on the backside and had been tied with bright orange yarn. He and I went everywhere together: camping, slumber parties, Grandma's house. I remember my dad wrapping me up in him before putting me in the car when we would leave someones house late at night. I would have a really hard time falling asleep without him on my pillow. What a sweet blankie. All of the kids in my family had a favorite blanket but Clif outgrew his first (I think). Eventually, Shian had to put hers in a cedar chest because it was getting holes in it that were too big to fix. Robyn's has been mended several times but is still hanging in there. Tigger (as far as I know) has never needed to be repaired. The reason I find this so impressive is because... I still sleep with him every night. Chris learned before we got married that Tigger and I were a package deal. You can't have one without the other. He took it pretty well. Actually, there have been a few nights when I've had to steal him back from Chris :) Tigger is a little worse for the wear. His bright orange backside is faded to a very pale orange. Every once in a while I'll find little bits of orange yarn in bed that have fallen off. He has a small hole near the edge so I try to be very careful with him these days . When I wash him, I stick him inside a pillow case and tie it shut and I try to do that as little as possible. I no longer take him camping or to Grandma's and I think Tigger misses it almost as much as I do. I don't even take him on the truck with me because I'm afraid he'll get too dirty or torn somehow. But every weekend I get a little thrill of happiness when it's time for bed and I get to snuggle with my two loves: Chris and Tigger. Now, I know that it's pretty silly, but I actually got a little teary-eyed as I wrote this post thinking back on my life with Tigger. I am so thankful for my life and the chance I've had to keep and cherish something made for me when I was so small. I love my Tigger.

In the pictures I am 6 weeks old and almost 3 (my sister Shian is almost 5).
This post was inspired by my friend Emily who wrote about her blanket last week. I couldn't believe how many people made comments about their blankets growing up. Several of them (including my sister, Robyn) still have theirs, too. I'm glad I'm not the only one out there who's still a little girl deep down inside :)