Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for my kids, and for my friend Amy, who made this quilt for me out of some of Mat's shirts. As she said, "If Mat can't wrap his arms around you, at least you can wrap this quilt around yourself."

The day Amy came over to help me choose shirts to put in the quilt was an emotional day. It was hard to let the shirts go -- the crisp blue and white ones Mat wore to work, and especially the soft plaid ones he wore at home. I've been told that all of Mat's things will someday not seem like so much a part of him and become just things. That day hasn't come yet, so I cried with Amy over the shirts.

But now they're back, and someday when Mat's shirts become just shirts, this quilt will not be just a quilt. It will always be a memorial to my best friend Mat and to the kind of friendship that sees me through the day.