Ellie's Blankets

Forty-five.
That's how many fleece blankets we made, or were donated, to give to Children's Hospital in Ellie's memory. Forty-five! That doesn't include the 10 small fleece baby blankets, 8 regular baby blankets, 20 flannel baby blankets, and a couple large bedding blankets. We are holding onto some of the more adult blankets for the PICU comfort kits and the baby blankets for memory boxes and death care kits.

The large fleece tie blankets were loaded up in the car and brought to the hospital today. Half of the blankets were brought to the PICU where Ellie died and my mom and I brought the other half, up to the 8th floor, where I used to work. It didn't bother me to go to the hospital. I have been there twice since we had to leave Ellie. But I absolutely did not want to go down to the ICU so the staff brought those blankets to them. I did however, want to go up to the 8th floor. I know I've said it before, but I am so lucky to have worked with such amazing people. So loving and kind. It makes me happy to see them- even if it was just for a few minutes.

Each blanket was washed in hypo-allegenic detergent, then rolled, wrapped with a ribbon, and then a jingle bell and note were added. We added the jingle bell for two reasons. One is because they remind me of Ellie- an Elle Belle, and two, because "everytime a bell rings, an angel gets it's wings." While these blankets are not necessarily for dying children, they are all from Angels. Children that are no longer with us.

Each blanket has a tag that says "Ellie's Light" on the front and on the inside it says, "Love, Angel Ellie and Angel (a name of another child angel)." For me, these blankets were just as much about doing something to remember Ellie and other lost children, as they were about doing something nice for kids in the hospital. I like the idea of the blankets being from TWO Angels, because I like to think of Ellie up there with the other kids who had to go ahead of their parents. I like to think that she is not alone. I also like to think these children have had a hand in "arranging" meetings between their parents so they can support each other. I like that when someone gets that blanket they will look at the tag and just for a second, our children will be remembered, thought of.

While I hate, I mean HATE, more than anything, that this is where my life has lead me, I love that Ellie is doing something that just might make someone smile. Because if there was one thing that Ellie was really good at, it was making people smile.

 

Also, at Ellie's party we collected food for the local food bank. Here is what we were able to donate in Ellie's memory. Approx 300lbs of food!!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that contributed to the blanket project or the food bank donation. We really appreciate your help in keeping Ellie's Light shining!!