Blanket of Love

HOW IT STARTED…

Acknowledgments...Many moons ago I was approached by a man I only remember as “Anton Leslie” (his pen name). He had written a children’s poem “Blanket of Love” and asked if I could put it to music.

I hesitated for only a moment. I had done that once before so surely; I could do it again. I sat down with my guitar and within a few minutes “Blanket of Love” became a Children’s Bedtime Lullaby. The song was recorded and many years later a friend of mine & I quilted baby blankets and sold them along with the CD of the song. A seed was also planted in my mind, way back then, about someday making it into a Children’s book. Well that someday is finally here. And what a journey it has been.

In 2020 I enlisted the help of my Granddaughter Casey Gerlach & her best friend Saydie Lee to draw the illustrations for the book. With COVID restrictions our time together was limited but we got together when we could. They did an amazing job of drawing the images we came up with together, to accompany the poem/song lyrics. And we had a lot of fun making the sketches, coloring them in and then sending them off to Saydies grandmother, Helene Girard (a professional artist from Quebec ) who brought them to life with her beautiful and vibrant colors! Helene even painted each graphic and sent them to me all the way from Quebec.

Thank you Casey, Saydie and Helene for bringing “Blanket of Love” to life with all your beautiful artistic talents.

The cover page is a picture of the prototype for a quilted “Blanket of Love” lovingly made by my friend Janet Cole. Thank you, Janet, for the hours that went into making this beautiful quilt with all its vibrant colors and detail in every stitch! The Quilt (similar to what is shown) will be available to purchase along with the song lyrics and instrumental track of Blanket of Love.

My wish for you, is that you, your children, your grandchildren and your great grandchildren, enjoy this beautiful story for years and years!