Shadows Express somehow stay when she pulled it over her body. Patty could only hope as she eyed the next item. “Oh, no,” Patty said aloud, “I didn’t realize this was… “ Her voice trailed off. “I just… “ Her hands covered her mouth. The shock on her face clear. “That was so funny!” She held up a small orange and black, broad-striped shirt and laughed. This story was retold and referenced many times... Sam was no more than three, and, like most small boys his size, full of mischief and energy. Laura, the music director’s wife, had toddler duty at the church that day. Sam was his usual self and played seemingly with all the toys in the nursery, all at the same time. Laura had her hands full that day with Sam and five other toddlers, Sam being the oldest. She enlisted the help of one of the teenagers, Sherry. Even with the extra help, it proved to be a difficult day. The inevitable came. “Ms. Laura?” “Yes, sweetie,” Laura chimed back as all experienced pre-school workers do. “I need to go to the bathroom.” Sam’s brown eyes batted back at Laura. “Oh. Okay. I’ll take you.” So, off they went—Sam in his favorite broadstriped shirt. They strolled around the corner toward the bathroom right next to the sanctuary. She opened the door for him and was about to go in when Sam gave her his look. “I can do it. I’m a big boy.” “Oh,” Laura said, “I’m sure you are.” Laura smiled down at him. Laura waited. And waited. He had been in there a long time. He was a big boy, she thought. I’ll give him a few more minutes. Besides, it was nice to have left Sherry back there with the other equally exuberant kids. Laura wandered up and down the hall. Still, she waited. “He sure is taking his time,” she whispered to herself. She decided to take her mind off things and tried to listen through the doors to the pastor’s sermon. The sermon was a good one. Of course, she thought, all of Pastor Reynold's Volume4: Issue 1
sermons were good. She sat listening in the hall. Then it happened. Sam streaked past her in two blinks of an eye, and before she could stop him, he’d opened the doors to the sanctuary and scooted in. At first, there was silence. Laura knew what was coming. The giggles at first and then full, wild laughter. Laura rushed in too late. There stood Sam, naked, with a roll of toilet paper in one hand and only a mischievous grin to wear. “Mommy!” he cried out. Laura's stomach churned in mortification. She scooped him up and darted to the door. In the bathroom, she found a full roll of toilet paper filling the toilet and a small wide-striped shirt tossed on the floor. The memories lapped upon Patty's mind as she picked up each piece of clothing. Some were hard to recall. Some had no memory at all. But most had a story attached and a flood of feeling. Patty worked at a frantic pace—cutting and sewing, and cutting and sewing. Her less than nimble fingers somehow managed to do the job. The box kept giving and giving, and the quilt took shape. For her first quilt since she was just a young girl, she was quite proud. She smiled and hummed as she worked and kept her mind on the task. April gave way to May. May gave way to June. The weather seemed much warmer now, and the box lay almost empty. Her arthritic fingers hurt from the multiple sticks of a needle and the tedious sewing of each patch. But she lovingly did it. She wouldn’t trade this job for the world. At last it neared completion. She sewed on the second to last patch, and she peered into the box which had one last article inside. Poetic, she thought as she reached in to grab it. A soft light-blue onesie draped over her hand. She trembled when she realized what it was. Tears streamed down her cheeks as a well of emotion bubbled inside her. She clutched the onesie and held it to her cheek, wiping the tears and trying to remember. She needed to remember. Oh God, how she’d tried to forget sometimes, but this day, she needed to remember. For the longest time, she held that Page 35