The Baby Blanket
In mid-2005, Will and I had been dating for less than a year, and every trip was a weekend vacation, as he lived in Phoenix, and I lived in Atlanta. One of us crossed the country every few weeks, utilizing business trips, miles, and special fares to see each other.
On one particular trip in July of that summer, we met in Tucson. While we were dating, we would see most of Arizona, from the Grand Canyon all the way across to Globe and down to Bisbee. I don't think I've seen more of any other state in the country. Tucson is, to this day, one of my favorite cities to visit. A quintessential desert town, Tucson has great food, beautiful resorts, and one of the most magical places in the world (to me): the airplane graveyard. I made Will circle around it several times.
On the way down to Bisbee from Tucson, we stopped at a market somewhere off the highway in a tiny town called Tubac. It was hotter than Hades and we were sweating even in the 30 seconds it would take to get from one shop to another. After browsing through more Kokopelli items than I'd like to remember, we stumbled upon a quilt store. Will's mom is a talented quilter, and he insisted on going inside to look around. Somewhat reluctantly (and potentially crankily, since I was hot and sweaty), I followed him into the store.
I stumbled across a small pile of baby quilts, and I started looking through the stack, pulling them up corner by corner. One caught my eye - a soft white one with delicate yellow checked rocking horses and matching reverse. I paused, admiring the handiwork and losing myself in a moment of reflection. Will walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder. He asked me if this was the one I wanted. I stopped and looked up at him. "What do you mean?" I said. "I'm going to buy it," he said. I asked him why he wanted to buy a baby quilt, when we weren't anywhere close to having a baby. "Someday," he told me, "we're going to want our baby to have a quilt this beautiful."
The merchant wrapped the quilt in tissue paper and carefully placed it in a bag. Soon after, it found its way to Atlanta, as did Will, in a Ryder moving truck.
I knew I had found a good partner for so many reasons. This was just another example of his certainty, his faith in us, and his sweet insistence on making me happy. This is a very special quilt, indeed.
On the way down to Bisbee from Tucson, we stopped at a market somewhere off the highway in a tiny town called Tubac. It was hotter than Hades and we were sweating even in the 30 seconds it would take to get from one shop to another. After browsing through more Kokopelli items than I'd like to remember, we stumbled upon a quilt store. Will's mom is a talented quilter, and he insisted on going inside to look around. Somewhat reluctantly (and potentially crankily, since I was hot and sweaty), I followed him into the store.
I stumbled across a small pile of baby quilts, and I started looking through the stack, pulling them up corner by corner. One caught my eye - a soft white one with delicate yellow checked rocking horses and matching reverse. I paused, admiring the handiwork and losing myself in a moment of reflection. Will walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder. He asked me if this was the one I wanted. I stopped and looked up at him. "What do you mean?" I said. "I'm going to buy it," he said. I asked him why he wanted to buy a baby quilt, when we weren't anywhere close to having a baby. "Someday," he told me, "we're going to want our baby to have a quilt this beautiful."
The merchant wrapped the quilt in tissue paper and carefully placed it in a bag. Soon after, it found its way to Atlanta, as did Will, in a Ryder moving truck.
I knew I had found a good partner for so many reasons. This was just another example of his certainty, his faith in us, and his sweet insistence on making me happy. This is a very special quilt, indeed.