Stitches of love — Crochet, Christmas and a gift from heaven
Walt John joined his mother Brooklin Macke-Shaff on her birthday, Dec. 11, only four short minutes before her birth 29 years earlier. The new mother credits her deceased mother for watching over the baby, calling Walt a birthday gift from her mother, Gidget Macke.
Christmas has a way of sharpening both joy and longing, especially for those welcoming new life while still reaching for someone who is gone. This season, Brooklin Macke-Shaff is doing both — celebrating her son’s first Christmas while searching for pieces of her mother’s love, stitched years ago and scattered across the community.
In the weeks leading up to the holiday, Macke-Shaff shared a message on social media, asking if anyone might still have crocheted baby items her mother — Gidget Macke — made and would be willing to part with them. The request was simple, but the meaning behind it runs deep.
Macke-Shaff’s mother died Oct. 29, 2019, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, after a battle with throat and neck cancer. Macke-Shaff was 22 years old at the time — young, unsure of what life would hold, but certain she had lost her best friend.
Nearly seven years later, her son, Walt, was born on Macke-Shaff’s birthday — just four minutes before the moment she herself entered the world 29 years earlier.
Walt was born at 8:11 a.m. Macke-Shaff was born at 8:15 a.m., nearly three decades earlier. After years of loss and five years of trying to conceive, the timing felt more like a sign than a coincidence.
“I truly believe that Walt was a birthday present from my mom,” Macke-Shaff said.
Throughout her pregnancy, Macke-Shaff carried both hope and grief, often pausing after each doctor’s appointment to speak quietly to her mother.
“After every doctor appointment, I would visit my mom and thank her for watching my angel babies and for helping this baby make it another week,” she said.
Not having her mother present during pregnancy and early motherhood has been one of the hardest realities to face.
“Not having my mom there is, and was, one of the hardest things I have had to deal with and come to terms with,” Macke-Shaff said. “That’s something every girl needs.”
Her mother was always making something, and the handmade gifts she distributed throughout the community are creating a connection to the grandchild she couldn’t meet. Crochet was one of Gidget’s favorite crafts, and she poured her heart into every project — from adult clothing to baby outfits and doll clothes.
“She truly loved making and giving her crochet projects,” Macke-Shaff said.
Gift-giving was one of her mother’s greatest joys. Friends and family welcomed babies wrapped in her handmade creations, including one especially thoughtful gift — a series of crocheted hats marking each monthly milestone of a baby’s first year.
For Macke-Shaff, knowing her own baby would never receive something handmade by his grandmother has been painful.
“So not having her here to make my baby something hurts on such a deep level,” she said.
That pain softened when a few of her mother’s crocheted items found their way back to her.
“Having even just a few of the things she made has made me feel closer to her on my journey to motherhood,” Macke-Shaff said.
The emotional response was immediate — overwhelming love, comfort and connection.
“Knowing that my mom made it with her two hands and kind, full heart, and now my baby will get to have some of that love. It made her not physically being here with us a little bit more bearable,” she said.
Now 29, Macke-Shaff reflects on the life she has built since her mother’s death — getting married, returning to school, starting a business and enduring infertility and loss. Each milestone, she said, would have been easier with her mother by her side.
She credits her husband and a strong support network for helping her through those years, but there remains a space only a mother can fill.
By searching for her mother’s crocheted items, Macke-Shaff hopes to give her son a tangible connection to the grandmother he will never meet.
“I know my mom would have been the best grandmother anyone could ask for,” she said.
Anyone who may have crocheted baby items made by Macke-Shaff’s mother and would be willing to part with them is encouraged to message Brooklin Macke-Shaff directly on Facebook.