Yellow Is The Color. . .

by Maria Theresa Maggi on June 4, 2020

Back in the time when I went to the grocery store in person, one of my favorite things to do if I had been efficient with my time in the grocery aisles, would be to migrate over to the far end of the store where the plant nursery lives. I was reminded how much I loved being there when the rain bounces off the huge greenhouse roof a few weeks ago when the neighbor who now picks up our groceries had a few minutes to walk the greenhouse and put me on facetime so I could pick out a few plants. It was pouring rain outside and so I got to hear that wonderful timpani through her phone.

The other place on the far side of the store that used to summon me has now been discontinued. There used to be yarn in a craft aisle, and when I began to loom knit last year I would gravitate to that as well. They started to discontinue it around the time I started to learn how, so for a few weeks there was heavily discounted yarn for sale. Some of the first things I made I made with the yarn I found on clearance–little children’s hats and toys mostly to send to the migrant children seeking refuge at the border. But there was one buttery bright yellow, the one you see above, that I never used. I was drawn to the beautiful soft buttery texture and color, but also compelled to save it for something special, though I knew not what. I came across an easy pattern for something called a cocoon, which is basically a long body sock a baby can feel comfy in. I thought about knitting it to send to RAICES along with the hats and toys they ask for, but still, I waited.

A couple of weeks ago I learned that my son and daughter-in-law’s plans and training to become foster and hopefully some day adoptive parents came to fruition all in a flash. The training, the paperwork, the home visits, the vetting with more paperwork seemed interminable and in fact took almost two years. And then, when that was finally winding down, the pandemic hit full bore. They had provided respite care for school age kids and enjoyed it, but those kind of  temporary arrangements and outings were now out of the question.

Then, all at once, a very new little person needed care and love. I’m not able to give details about this little person for safety’s sake, but my heart is full to announce that my son and daughter-in-law have become foster parents. While I haven’t yet met Very New Little Person in person, I am enchanted and overcome with love each day by the photos, videos and facetime visits we now share, as I watch Very New Little Person thrive and grow under the loving care of two of my favorite people in the world. It is a blessing beyond words to have such a miracle unfold in our family at this time.

So I got out that yellow yarn. I found the cocoon pattern and I began to knit. I sang songs into the stitches. I took it outside when the sun was shining so I could knit the sunlight, the birdsong, and the breeze through the branches into it. And I spent a long time trying to figure out how to get the postal service to pick up a box with it and a few other loom knitted goodies inside to send to them.

It turns out Very New Little person feels snug as a bug in a rug in that buttery yellow cocoon. It helps them back to sleep when they need to be snuggled in. I can’t be there to hold Very New Little Person myself yet, so for now I think of it like a continuous knitted yellow hug to be nestled in and I look at the pictures of said very little person doing just that with my heart deep in wonder and love.

So much is in unpredictable and often dangerous yet creative flux right now, as we stand up for justice and peace for black people so at last we can truly have justice for all; that no one will be harmed or degraded or brutalized for who they are. We must strive to be the best humans we can learn to be, and wake up to what we have ignored or misunderstood or simply looked away from because we could. Throughout my life I have committed myself to that learning curve, and I recommit myself to it in these times. In the midst of all the change in process, the safe harbor our family is giving this very little person is a powerful reminder of the triumphant strength of love and tenderness and care and its unfailing commitment to ensure we thrive and grow. It’s a well I am ever grateful to be able to give to and to drink from.

I share what I can here to remind you to look, as Mr. Roger’s Mother once told him to do in frightening times, for the helpers. They are there, all around us, and inside us, too, out on the front lines of protest, and in the spaces where people move in to help after, and the places where the police and the protestors come together. In every kind gesture we find the courage to love,  and we become the true beings of love that we are. Let’s be helpers birthing a better world. There are a lot of very new little people depending on that.

Maria (moonwatcher)

Leave a Comment

{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Gena June 4, 2020 at 2:33 pm

My heart is full. What a blessing this news is, and especially now. Congratulations to the whole family!!!! XOXO

Reply

2 Maria Theresa Maggi June 5, 2020 at 8:55 am

Thank you so much, Gena! xoxo

Reply

3 J Denman June 4, 2020 at 8:55 pm

Maria ~ Your posts are so often akin to poetry, and this one is truly magical. You are an amazingly talented person with a wonderful heart. Welcome to grandmotherhood. I’m sure that your son and daughter-in-law are telling that Very New Little Person every day that your in-person hug will be even more wonderful than the buttery yellow baby cocoon you knitted. Bless you.

Reply

4 Maria Theresa Maggi June 5, 2020 at 8:56 am

Dear JR, thank you for these beautiful kind words, and for your blessing–sending one right back to you!

Reply

5 Sacil June 4, 2020 at 9:36 pm

💕💕💕💕💕 Thank you for this. This is the perfect happy ending to my day. I needed this, and I’m so happy for your family and the New Little Person!

Reply

6 Maria Theresa Maggi June 5, 2020 at 8:57 am

Dear Sacil, thank you so much! I am delighted reading this was a perfect happy ending to your day, and I appreciate all your love and good wishes more than I can express. <3

Reply

7 Silvia June 4, 2020 at 10:16 pm

I am so happy for you! Such good news in this sad time.
Wishing you well, Silvia

Reply

8 Maria Theresa Maggi June 5, 2020 at 8:58 am

Thank you so much, Silvia! You are a sweetheart. <3

Reply

9 Susan Wright June 5, 2020 at 9:17 am

nice reading this love it when you tell me things Thank you

Reply

10 Maria Theresa Maggi June 8, 2020 at 10:02 am

You are quite welcome, Susan! 🙂

Reply

11 Lisa June 7, 2020 at 7:17 am

Lovely words that reflect your heart like stillness on the pond in a morning’s moment of magic. Thank you for your touching post. Blessings on your son and D-I-L and the Very New Little Person. And I know your heart will keep on growing with this newness.
Be well, keep sharing with us!

Reply

12 Maria Theresa Maggi June 7, 2020 at 9:05 am

Thank you so much, Lisa! What a lovely way to say it!

Reply

Previous post:

Next post: