When Gabby Rivera – the author behind Juliet Takes a Breath, a young adult novel with a queer Latina protagonist – came out to her mom, she was met with silence. Her mom never “took her love away,” but like many members of the LGBTQ community, the revelation drove a wedge between them. Rivera didn’t believe that she and her mom would ever reach a good place. On Thursday night, she received a physical reminder that their relationship has grown by leaps and bounds. “Damn, I never thought me and my mom would be cool,” she said on her Twitter account, accompanied by four photos of herself holding a rainbow blanket. “She was devastated when I came out. Now she crochets gay blankets.?”
In a series of follow-up tweets, Rivera explained that her mom kept hounding her about a package. “I was internally like, ‘wtf mom chill, it’s fine,” she wrote. “But every day, she was like, ‘Nena, did you get my package?’ Had me going to every post office in the Financial District. Me all sort of annoyed.”
When she finally received the package, the sweet gesture made her feel overcome with emotion. Her mom, who at one point didn’t feel comfortable say the term lesbian out loud, now crocheted a “gay ass beautiful blanket” just to make Gabby smile. “Sometimes this city is so intense,” she added. “I feel lost and how did she know I needed a rainbow blanket made of baby yarn? I cry about my mom.”
Last year – after being attending her mother’s retirement party – Rivera described the evolution of their relationship through a series of tweets. At the end of a night that already focused so much on Gabby, Rivera’s mom hit her in the feels. “She just grabbed my hand and said, ‘Nena, I tell the world about you. I’m sorry it took me so long,’” Rivera wrote.
In 2016, that comment made Rivera choke up. Perhaps she didn’t think her mother could top that moment, but on Thursday, her mami blew her away with an incredibly thoughtful gift – one that has in turn made others feel optimistic. After sharing the touching post, she received comments from others who said they hoped that one day they could repair their relationship with their parents.
Check out a few reactions to Gabby’s blanket below:
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