Her love blankets family, friends

[Guest guest]

Her love

blankets family, friends

With

mom's help, LaPaz woman made 94 special coverings.

COMMENTARY

BILL

MOOR

Just about every

morning, Rona asks her mom the same question: " Who can we call today

to tell them, 'I love you.' "

" That's just the way Rona is, " Rena says. " She is

everybody's little angel. "

Rona is 25 and the middle child of Phil and Rena of LaPaz. She was born

with both Down syndrome and an ever-present smile.

She

helps her mom with both her jobs -- at the Head Start program in Plymouth

during school mornings and then down at Mac's Market on U.S. 31 and U.S. 6

three evenings a week.

Rona especially loves race car driver Jeff Gordon, TV show " American

Idol " and all the members of her extended family.

That's a whole lot of loving: She has 40 first cousins alone.

" Both Phil and I come from large families, " Rena says.

And for this past Christmas, Rona wanted to do something for all of them.

" She came up with the idea a year ago -- just after the previous Christmas

-- to make everybody blankets, " Rena says. " Rona always wants to do

nice things for others. "

But, wow, making several dozen blankets for family and good friends?

" Ninety-four in all, " Rena says.

For her brothers, and ... for her grandparents, Dale and Betty

and Gordon and Esther Ecker ... for all her cousins and aunts and uncles ...

for some very special friends ... and for mom and dad, too.

They chose no-sew blankets, which still require a lot of cutting and tying and

knotting together the two sides.

" Rona wanted to personalize each blanket, too, " Rena says

So uncle Steve , a pastor who also likes tractors, would get Deere

decals on one side of his blanket and a " What Would Jesus Do? " theme

on the other.

" After the first 10, though, I had to wonder if we were going to get them

all done in time, " Rena admits.

But Rona can be a driven person who keeps lists and checks them off as she

goes.

" We became better -- to the point where we could do one blanket in about

45 minutes, " Rena says.

The blankets began to pile up. And up. And up.

And suddenly, Phil was pretty much run out of his " rec " room at the

back of the house.

" I'll tell you, there were blankets everywhere, " Phil says.

His room pretty much became off limits to everyone because the blankets were to

be a secret.

Some had Chicago White Sox and Cubs insignias. Some had paw prints and flowers

and even Tiggers. And a fair number were all about NASCAR.

A few of the men even got Tony blankets, which wasn't easy for a Jeff

Gordon fan like Rona to make. Her uncle, Irish Saunders, who works at Hoosier

Tire and received one of those blankets, even brought Tony over to visit her

one time.

Rona wouldn't lie to him. When Tony asked her who her favorite driver was, she

said Jeff Gordon.

He laughed and then said, " How many times has Jeff Gordon come visit

you? "

After that, even the Tony blankets received Rona's caring touch.

" She would work one side and I would work the other and when we got to the

end, Rona would always say, 'And we are done,' " Rena adds.

It was a labor of love for Rona.

She didn't stop with the blankets, either. She made Christmas cards for

everyone and also put together 94 key chains with beads along with

" WWJD " and " I Love You " on them.

" We had beads all over the van when we went on a trip to Florida, "

Phil says.

All they could do was laugh.

" Rona is a blessing so many times over, " Rena says. " For her,

life is all about giving. "

So Christmas this season may have been the best ever for her as she watched the

surprised looks and then received hugs and kisses from her relatives and

friends for their blankets.

Rona got a surprise, too.

Her sister-in-law, Kim , and her future sister-in-law, Siple, had found

out about the blankets and made a pretty pink one for Rona, too.

When she opened it, she said, " Who couldn't keep a secret? "

Then Rona wrapped herself in it and started to think what she could give

everybody next Christmas.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080102/NEWS01/801020319