Back in September, a church building belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was rammed by a man driving a truck. He then went inside the building and shot at people inside and set the church in fire.
We had friends who were inside the church that day. Their names are Brandi and Jared Hicken. We met them in our ward in Provo. They moved to Grand Blanc, Michigan for Jared to do a medical residency. They now have 3 kids.
That day Jared and their 5 year old daughter, Piper, were shot. They are both fine but it was very scary for them.
About a month after that happened, Brandi posted this:
“Tonight… my 5 year old looked at me and said, “Mom my piece is missing.” I said, “Piece of what? What piece?” Then she said, “MY piece. The thing inside of me that makes me feel safe and happy.” She meant peace and I was gutted. Please send all the prayers for my baby girl to get her peace back and help heal this mama’s broken heart.”
When I saw that post I knew we should do something to help little Piper. I found some material to order that had lots of comforting words on it. “Hope”, “Faith,” and (most importantly) “Peace”.
We found some other cute fabric with hearts and owls and polka dots.
We cut squares from the material, sewed them together (yes, Grandad too!) and sewed a quilt for little Piper.
We mailed it to her along with some little Care Bear toys, some candy, a gift card to help her parents with Christmas shopping and a letter.
Here is what the letter said:
Dear Piper: We heard what happened to you and your family at church a few months ago. We are so sorry that happened. We decided we wanted to do something for you to help you remember all the good people in the world who love you and who want you to be happy and have peace. We made you this blanket. On the blanket are some cute hearts, owls, and polka dots because those things make us all happy, don’t they? But on some of the pieces of the blanket are words that we hope will help you feel warm and safe. Words like home and faith and love. And, if you look closely, you can even find “peace” in the blanket. It’s small and sometimes hard to find but you can find it. Then once you’ve found it, you will always know it’s there. You are such a brave, strong girl. We’re glad you have such a wonderful family who loves you so much. We hope you have a happy Christmas! Love, Lori and Darwin Harrison
Her parents sent us messages and videos of Piper opening her gift.
Here are the messages:
Lori and Darwin, I am so touched by your sweet gift. Oh my goodness!! Your gift was so, so, so appreciated and could not have come at a better time. Yes, Piper felt very loved on her birthday and she got some peace back that week (but didn’t receive anything like your thoughtful labor of love in that blanket). However, it still comes and goes. She had a particularly hard week last week. We just barely challenged her to try and sleep in her own bed again since everything happened. Sunday night she gave it a try and lasted part of the night. Last night she slept the entire night through in her own bed in her room. She tucked in with the quilt you made and I genuinely believe in tandem with your super sweet letter we read to her, that the blanket really offered some extra security and peace for her at bedtime. I’m just so touched. The chocolate, the cute and thoughtful card, cute little care bears for each of my kids (which they LOVED by the way) and the gift card 😭😭🥹 you are such a blessing. Thank you so much. I truly cannot express how much that meant to us.
We are so grateful we were able to help Piper just a little bit. We’re grateful for Jesus who was the ultimate example of service.