Grandma's Hug

When my grandma Leola Pierce Peterson passed away in 2012, I asked my mother to save my grandma's shirts and sheets for me. My grandmother was very athletic. She golfed, bowled, and pitched horseshoes in leagues, at the Utah Summer Games and in the Huntsman World Senior Games. She had a lot of sports t-shirts. I received a huge box of t-shirts and sheets. From those items I made 9 small wrap quilts which I call "Grandma's Hug". They are just big enough to wrap around an adult and a little bigger for a small child. I made one for each of my grandma's grandchildren - all 9 of us.

Even though I've washed all the t-shirts and sheets, to me they still smell like my grandma. One day when my children were fighting with each other, my daughter came running in the house crying and went into the living room and immediately became silent. I wondered what could possibly have made her stop crying. When I went to find out, I found her wrapped up in my "Grandma's Hug". I asked her how she was doing and she said, that she just needed a hug from grandma (her great-grandma). And the hug made the situation all better. She has since done this same thing multiple times; as has my son.

This is a great way to link the generations. My siblings and my cousins remember my grandma wearing these shirts and now they have a little part of that memory that they can wrap around themselves and their children in a nice warm hug from grandma.

Leola Pierce Peterson
Huntsman World Senior Games Medals