As I lay here, with my life flashing before my eyes, I return to one of my earliest childhood memories--bedtime. My parents would read a story before fluffing my baby pillow and tucking me in. My head would sink into that tiny pillow, and I’d immediately head into dreamland. As I got older, that pillow seemed to get smaller, but I didn’t want to give it up…it was my version of a security blanket. My mom finally got creative and re-covered that pillow with a pocket to be my tooth fairy pillow. It was so exciting to place a tooth in the little pocket and wake in the morning to find a prize. When all the baby teeth were gone, mom got creative again by turning that pillow into a lap desk for schoolwork.

I used that lap desk throughout all my schooling, and even took it off to college. In addition to being useful in that cramped dorm room, it also eased a little of my homesickness. In those first few weeks away, I would just sit cross-legged on my bed with that little desk in my lap and just feel the warmth of home. Through college, much work was accomplished with my piece of home, but it became less important. Once I graduated and began my adult life, it traveled back home to sit in my old room with other childhood memorabilia.

A few years later, on the day of my wedding, that petite pillow showed up, transformed by mom once again. It became my “something old” as it carried the ring down the aisle. Off it went into storage with the wedding gown and other wedding memories, not to be thought of for years. I had almost forgotten about the pillow until one day when I was sitting and crocheting a baby blanket for my soon-to-arrive little girl. I nearly tore the house apart in search of that little pillow. Once I found it, I was transported back to all those fond memories of my childhood. I knew that I needed to breathe new life into that little pillow. So, I re-covered it to match the blanket and placed them on the rocking chair in the room.

Little did I know that my tiny arrival would come too early and with complications that would cost both our lives. So, for one last time, my mom changed this pillow’s purpose. It was stored away next to me, supporting my little girl as our souls soared off to Heaven.