Sunday, July 19, 2009

B

Mark and I were talking yesterday about the tattered condition of Shannon’s passport, his only form of id since he lost his driver’s license years ago. Mark said the passport is “like B,” which made me laugh uproariously. B was Shannon’s baby blanket, a gift to him as a newborn. It started out snowy white, with pale green satin edging. But it became baby Shannon’s most reliable solace, accompanying him everywhere, held next to his cheek as he fell asleep each night. Leaving B behind was not done, ever. Triple checks were made to ensure B was securely on board when we took road trips or flew to Indiana to visit Granny and Grandpa. Over time, B became gray and tattered, losing its satin edging. And B dwindled in size, shrinking to the size of a handkerchief, then smaller still to the size of a passport (hah!) and finally to the size of a postage stamp, at which point we convinced Shannon to part with B so we could put it away in a treasure box for safekeeping since it could so easily end up lost. Letting go of B was like Shannon’s passport to eventual independence.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amusingly, when I finally got over B, it was all of a sudden. One day it didn't smell right to me, so I stopped coveting it =) Strange how things can change so quickly.

BB said...

He lost his license two years ago? Gawd it sounds like the boys. I don't know how many times we've replaced Chris' SS card, at least 4 times.

Anonymous said...

When Sasha and Shannon were three, we visited you, leaving on a beautiful Boulder morning . Halfway through Colorado Springs, Sasha realized that she did not have Pooh. Panic was immediate and loud. A thorough search of the car proved that Pooh had, indeed, been left behind (not in the religious sense). We called, and you kindly offered to mail Pooh to Arkansas. He was waiting for us when we got home; wise mother that you were (and are), you had used UPS. Peace was restored. Thank you, again, twenty years later. --Lea Ann

Lynn said...

I'm so glad I expedited that. Of course from Sasha's point of view it might have been even better if I had commissioned a flight for life to air drop it to you enroute! Thanks for sharing the memory.

BB said...

I'm so glad the boys didn't have security blankets although Chris did have his ADD obsession to which the last MJ was one. Thank god he got over that to move on to being obsessed with Marilyn Manson...