In the late 1970s, my dad was 17, in the Navy, and stationed aboard the USS Suribachi across the bay from the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey. While on leave visiting his grandparents (Inez and Lacy), he explained how cold his sleeping quarters were and grandma Inez provided him with this heavy quilted blanket, red with white flowers on one side and various funky 1970s patterns on the other. Dad and his blanket traveled across the Atlantic to Italy, France, Spain, Egypt, Scotland, and other places he "can't remember or can't talk about." When stationed stateside at the Great Lakes, he married his highschool sweetheart (my mom) and I came along shortly after. Base housing was pre-fab concrete and often cold so the blanket was often tucked around me in my crib. The blanket then moved with us to our permanent home in southern Indiana and I grew up with it as a great sense of comfort, particularly when I was sick. Now, 40+ years later, it belongs to me. I've had a friend patch and repair the holes and frays that have developed over the years. She said everyone who came in her shop fawned over it, as "retro cool." I appreciate the blanket's heritage; it's part of my childhood, it traveled the world with my dad, and it was made by a sturdy and practical midwestern woman, born at the turn of the century, the granddaughter of 19th century German immigrants. Despite the fact that it is to me a cherished family heirloom, I do still use it as it was intended, which I think my great grandmother would appreciate. 

– Lacy Hawkins

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more