Welcome back to Daily OM’s Year of Writing to Uncover the Authentic Self. This week’s lesson is a rather fun one, which is nice considering the last few have been a bit heavy. This one is about objects. The lesson mentions that “n today’s world of rampant commercialism, we’re often told to downsize and keep only the items that bring us joy.” For me, this is fairly true. I’m not super sentimental. I don’t have a lot of keepsakes, especially not compared to my mom or my grandma. That said, I will use this post to tell you about one very special object that I have and will keep until the day I die (and if my family knows what’s best for them, I’ll be buried with it): my blankie.
Yes, I am a 43 year old woman with a blankie. Deal with it.
To get serious for a moment, I have had this blanket literally since I was born. It was my favorite blanket as a baby and stayed with me all throughout my childhood. As I got older, I could never seem to get rid of it, even as it started falling apart. My grandma, who was very good at sewing, made a little pillowcase for it and stitched the blanket inside with just a corner of it sticking out – that way I could still feel it even though most of it was kept safe inside. She did this several times for me. The first pillow was shaped like Ms. Pac Man (the corner of the blanket stuck out the mouth and looked like a very weird tongue). When that wore out, she made another one that was pink and purple stripes since those were my favorite colors at the time.
Over the years I’ve kept it, replacing the outer pillow myself after my grandma was no longer around to do so. It’s now a burgundy color and was made out of an old shirt that was really soft. It lives in my bed next to my other pillows and, while I no longer need it to sleep like I did when I was little, I still feel better sleeping when it’s next to me, even after all these years. What’s also weird is that, to me, it still smells the same, despite going through countless washings and living in many different places. To me, that smell is very comforting. It smells like home. Not “home” as in a specific place, just . . . home.
Is this a bit strange? Probably. But it brings me a peace and comfort that few other objects in my life ever have, so who cares? I sure don’t.
Categories: Daily OM
Life With No Plot 
You & blankie have been through a lot together. You called it “corner” because there was one particular corner that you had to hold up by your face when you were tired or upset. That was the corner that became Ms Pac-Man’s tongue. There was nothing special about that blanket, just a yellow, loose woven blanket with yellow satin edging & that all important special yellow satin Corner!, but it sure was (and still is) special to you! ❤️❤️
It still has a “corner,” although not the original one because I’m pretty sure it disintegrated long ago. It’s okay – we got three more! 😂
Also, in case anyone didn’t know, this is my mom. 🙂 Everyone say hello!