Dragonfly for George and Payton

Late last night I got an email from a friend I went to high school with with these photos of a beautiful infant's quilt she has just finished in memory of our baby George and her other friend's angel baby.

"I have been thinking of you lots and wanted to do something in memory of baby George," Julie writes, "Just after I learned of what happened to baby George, I found out that a girl who lived next door to me at [university] also had a stillborn baby this summer. This little quilt is my way of contributing something to another baby in need, in memory of 2 little babes - Payton and George."

Julie is a very talented quilter; this quilt is called Friendship Star and measures 24 by 24 inches. If you look closely at the stars, the fabric has dragonfly prints on it. I wondered if Julie had selected that design on purpose for our angel babies because of the story, The Dragonfly Door, which helps explain moving on from this life to the afterlife to children.

She hadn't heard of it, which gave me goosebumps to think that of all the fabrics in the world she'd be inspired to use a dragonfly motif. What touching imagery for a quilt that will be donated to a children's hospital for a premature baby in memory of two angel babies. I should mention, too, that I haven't actually seen Julie since we graduated back in 1989. It has been amazing to me what a support so many people I haven't seen in years (oh, my - and in some cases like this I realize, um, decades) have been to me during this wretched time. What an unexpected and totally appreciated blessing.

Thank you, Julie, for the beautiful gift. It makes me happy to think of someone else's baby snug in that lovely quilt, and that you thought of mine as you stitched away for so many hours.