The Warmth of Parental Love

In addition to being what would have been JW's Mammy's (his dad's mom) 88th birthday, today was very significant in other ways in terms of being symbolic of the warmth of the love between a parent and son.

In ascending order, firstly, indicative of placing herself last, JW's mom finally completed today a quilt for herself which, like all preceding ones, is made, in part, out of the remnants of JW's clothing.  However, unlike all the prior quilts, this one did not have a unifying theme but was rather a "crazy quilt" made out of the materials left over from all the earlier quilts made with love for a few of those who occupied a special place in JW's life.  In the photo to the left, John's mom proudly displays her own quilt. (To see all prior quilts, scroll down the side bar to the right). 

Even more importantly, today John's nephew and namesake finally came home.  After having been born at 27 weeks gestation, and after 94 days in the NICU at Alexandria Hospital, John Bentley was able to come home to Gina, Mike and his big sister, Ariana.  JB truly represents the "impossible pregnancy" and is the product of the tremendous love, dedication and self-sacrifice of his parents -- JW's sister-in-law and "little" brother.  There is no doubt that if there is such a thing as "pride" in heaven, JW is a truly proud uncle, brother and brother-in-law today.  Gina and Mike have moved heaven and earth to give the gift of life to Bentley and are truly emblematic of the warmth of parental love.

Pictures of Bentley's homecoming can be seen below.