Please Pass the Cradle

Twenty years ago, when our first child was born, my mother gave our family a pine cradle. Our daughters each rocked and slept and dreamed in it for their first few months of life. After they had outgrown it, we spent the next several years moving the cradle from room to room in our house, seeking a convenient place to store it.

When our new neighbor mentioned that they needed a bed for their newborn baby, we loaned them our cradle and began a tradition—the “neighborhood cradle.”

Up to now, fifteen babies have used our daughters’ cradle. The couples who have borrowed it have reglued it, refinished it, and furnished it with a new mattress, sheets, and bumper pads.

We now have the joy of knowing that our cradle has been well-loved and useful to many, and we don’t have to worry about where to store it while it awaits our daughters’ children.—Kristin E. Litchman, Albuquerque, New Mexico