Now that summer is officially here, I’m in “purge mode” and have been working my way through the bottoms of closets and piles and totes of clothes.

And that’s when I came across it…

We’ve had it our entire marriage, a wedding gift from our registry. It graced our queen bed for nearly 5 years before we upgraded to a king. After that, it would be neatly folded and stored away in the blanket chest or closet awaiting those summer nights when we would use it in the camper.

And when I came across it last week, I was tempted to throw it away when I noticed how tattered the ends had gotten.

“They don’t make them like they used to,” some grandpa somewhere would have said. But I knew the reason of the abuse. It wasn’t negligence that had caused the seams to rip and tear, but rather the opposite…intentionality.

Having four kids five and under meant that there was always a lot of energy that needed to be released. And one of the games that my husband found to wear the children out quickly - with not a lot of effort on his end - was a game from his own childhood involving a blanket and tying lots and lots of knots.

To this day, the game remains nameless, but it always starts with someone asking, “Daddy, will you tie me up?!” And then to my children’s delight, a certain blanket would be spread out on the ground where my son or daughter would lay on top of it and be rolled up like a noodle and the ends twisted and tied. Giving the escape word of “Jimminy Cricket” they would have to twist and wiggle and break themselves free. Sometimes moments, sometimes minutes would go by, but eventually they’d break themselves free to where it would be someone else’s turn to attempt their own escape.

For years it’s been good, wholesome fun with not much damage done - other than the ends of our blanket, apparently.

And even though I’m in a season of purging by organizing and tossing and donating, I realized I can’t part with the blanket that has brought my family so much laughter and love.

Instead, my plan is to keep it - and not just “keep it” by sticking it away in a tote somewhere - but keep it in the closet where it can be easily accessed so we can continue the game that literally ties us closer together.