The Blender of My Childhood

I just unpacked the boxes that contained the blender and mixer we used when I was a child in the 1950s.  The Waring blender was in the dining room closet along with 2 Sunbeam Mixers exactly where my Grandmother had stored them.  I guess my mother and grandmother both had a mixer.  I'm sure the one with a little more wear was my Grandmother's.  I'm keeping the blender - it is just so cool.  Note that the jar does not have a handle.  The jar was made by Pyrex for Waring and is so marked on the bottom.

Look how clean the bottom of the base is.  I don't remember ever using this for anything other than making malts or milkshakes.  The thing was that they never tasted like the ones you got from the soda fountain at the corner drug store.  But, it was still a big treat when we got to make them - usually on Saturday evening as a family.  My brother and I usually had the honors of making them.

You really had to hold the lid down tight when turned on as it did not fit tight like they do today.  It was so much fun to make the malts, but I sure didn't like cleaning the jar with those blades at the bottom.  I am just so happy to have this wonderful childhood memory sitting on my kitchen counter.

Maybe this summer when the kids and grandkids visit, we can make malts.  We will definitely be making malts when my brother and sister visit.   

Goldie

I'm not exactly sure why I am writing this.  I really don't have a story or specific memory to share.  I was just looking through some of the old family photos and came upon my favorite picture of my Aunt Goldie, my grandmother's sister.  My grandmother was the oldest of five children.  Aunt Goldie was the second child born in 1903.  This picture was taken when she was 20 years old.  The 1920s, one of my favorite decades for fashion and hair styles.  I remember looking at this picture of Aunt Goldie when I was a child and thought she was just about the prettiest lady in the world.

When she would visit, she always made you feel so special.  I loved hearing her talk and her laugh, well, it was like listening to a symphony.

She never lost her beauty or her spirit.  She passed away a few months before my mother.  She was 104 years old. 

I don't think I will ever get tired of looking at this picture.  She was just so beautiful. 

In 1968, It Was Still "Merry Christmas"

Last year I wrote about memories about my grandmother's silver Christmas tree.  We hadn't found it yet and we knew our mother would not have gotten rid of it.  But, did my grandmother?  My sister found it, still in the box and packed.  I now have my grandmother's silver Christmas tree and it is now all decorated with the color wheel turning twinkling colors of red, green, yellow and blue.  As you can see, with the tree done, Bronx is facing north waiting for Santa.  But more about the Christmas decorating later.  Opening the box, all the branches were stored in their sleeves.  The branches were then wrapped by the color code and everything was wrapped in newspaper. 

The date of the newspaper that everything was wrapped in was Wednesday, December 25, 1968.  The newspaper was The Indianapolis Star.  The newspaper is actually in very good condition.  The front page is The Christmas Story with Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.  The top of the paper it said, "The Star Wishes All A Merry Christmas." 

    It was also a time when space exploration was still young and exciting - see "Pueblo Crew United With Families."  To be honest, I was almost more excited reading the Christmas 1968 newspaper.  We really need to get back to calling it what it is - Christmas.

Flipping through my 1968 treasured newspaper, I had to look at the fashion of the day.  Love the fur collars and empire waist style.  I didn't have time to go through all of the paper, but don't think I will be rewrapping the silver tree with this paper.  Oh, the wonderful memories of the '60s.         

Toothpick Heaven!

Our grandmother collected two different items - first being St. Clair toothpick holders.  She had Indian Head toothpicks in every color that St. Clair produced and a lot of the Holly pattern toothpicks.  When we were at her house, at some point we would be standing in front of her china cupboard and looking in awe at all her toothpick holders.  Even the older grandkids loved looking at all the toothpick holders.  The second item she collected was the carnival glass in the Harvest pattern from the Indiana Glass Company in Dunkirk, In.  Yes, this is considered the "new" carnival glass and I have to admit, growing up, this was not my favorite glass.  But what did make it special was seeing the sparkle in her eyes and how happy she was when she looked at the glass or was able to buy a new piece.  With St. Clair located in Elwood, In and Indiana Glass in Dunkirk, In, it was always a special treat for her to go to the factories with her sister, Aunt Goldie. 

Our mother also collected toothpick holders.  Her finds came from auctions, antique stores visited while traveling with my sister and me, and St. Clair in Elwood, In.  Other than St. Clair, she only looked for toothpicks that she thought were pretty.  The value really had nothing to do with her collections.  In her eyes, all glass was of value.  While I have been selling the toothpicks that were still wrapped in the auction boxes, the ones she did have displayed were included in the toothpick holders for us to choose from.       

The main thing that we did yesterday was to divide the toothpicks between the three of us.  We put all the toothpicks on a long table - there were 150+ toothpicks - St. Clair, Imperial, Fenton, Boyd, Summit, Deganhart and a few others.  Nothing high dollar, but all very special.  We decided to each pick 20 and then we would sell the rest online at CAROLINABLUELADY Vintage Collectibles at eCrater.  We took turns picking out our toothpicks one at a time and with so many to choose from, it took quite sometime to reach our 20 each.  As we looked over the remaining toothpicks, another one caught my sister's eye.  My brother said, "so we each want to pick another one?"  We ended with 22 each.  It was a very good day with plenty left to sell.  And, with 22 each, the grandkids are well taken care of, too.      

The Beginning Of The End Of Our Journey

My brother, sister and I have been on a journey for the past three years since our mother past away in September, 2008.  I'm sure most people can not understand why it has taken this long for us to go through the things in her house.  For most, taking a bulldozer to the house would have been the logical answer.  But for us, hidden in the stacks of newspapers, magazines and boxes, were our memories and treasures that we seem to cling onto so tightly.  Among our mother's stuff was our grandmother's stuff - nothing was ever thrown away.  To be honest, it isn't that the stuff is so valuable, it is the memories that are triggered bringing smiles, laughter and tears that have guided us for the past three years.  The stuff represents the carefree years of our childhood, the shaping of who we are, our mother's love and the love we have for each other.  

Thought you just might want to see the big house -

   
Oh, yes, there are a few additions to the original house. 

It is our goal to be done by the end of October.  This will be my last week at my mother's house and will be the week that we decide who gets what.  I'm sure there will be some things that more than one of us will want - our mother's scissors, our grandmother's big white-frame mirror, our "stagecoach" rocking chair, family-collected glassware and family mementos.  This could be the hardest part of our three year journey. 

Yesterday, we walked through the house and discussed our plan and time frame for ending this journey.  For the next five days, we will again be talking and sharing while dividing our memories.  I'm sure there will be plenty of laughter and a few tears. 

Our final plan begins today. 

Cowboys, Indians and Pony Rides

When did the guy with the pony stop coming around to take a picture of you sitting on the pony?  We would dress up in a cowboy outfit - it was so cool.  He was still coming around in the early 1950s when my brother and I were little.  By the 1960s, I don't think he was coming around anymore.  My sister never got her pictue taken on the pony.  So, what happened that ended one of the most wonderful memory makers for any city kid?

My brother and I are only 13 months apart so we were constant playmates when we were little.  We always combined playing house with cowboys and Indians.  I'm not sure that we knew there were girl's toys and boy's toys.  We wore cowboy hats and had guns and holsters around our waist.  Dolls were our children.  We used big cardboard boxes to make a fort around our "house" which was a card table with a blanket over it that also served as a teepee when we were the Indians.  The rocker with a padded seat was our stagecoach.  The curved wooden oak arms of the rocker were our horses.  The dolls would sit in the stagecoach and my brother and I would sit on our horses.  The harder you rocked; the faster our horses would go.  We used string to tie our horses to a post (the doorknob of the front door).  In the winter time, the floor register was our campfire.  It would get pretty hot when my mother would shovel coal into the furnace.  She wasn't real happy when the clay (our food) melted on the floor register.  Oh, and the time we spilt chocolate milk down the register - she wasn't real happy about that either.

So, when the man came around and asked if we wanted our picture taken on the pony, we got so excited.  Now, we didn't have much money and mother didn't splurge on frivolous things too often, but she ended up saying we could.  And, here we are sitting on our pony.  This was taken in 1953 at our house on State Street.  We were full-fledged cowboys and our pony was the most beautiful and best pony in the world!

Sitting on the pony and playing cowboys and Indians with my brother are some of my most wonderful childhood memories.  I'm so glad that we were children in the early '50s and didn't miss the man with the pony.     

Glass Hens On The Window Sill

Although I brought back 34 boxes of "pretties" that we will be selling, there were a few treasures that we won't be able to part with.  Going through the kitchen cabinets, my sister and I found some wonderful memories - some we had forgotten.  When my grandmother moved into the house in the early '70s, she had the kitchen renovated - this is an older house so it has 10' ceilings.  She had cabinets installed all the way to the ceiling on two walls - so you can imagine all the storage space.  She even had a new modern automatic washer and dryer installed.  The wringer washer was being replaced (actually, it is still in the old garage).   The cabinets still have my grandmother's kitchen gadgets, dishes and pots & pans.  My mother didn't remove anything; just added to it.  My grandmother's glass covered hens are still sitting on the window sill in front of the sink and the kitchen clock is still on the wall - a copper teapot design.  We haven't removed them yet.

You know, it is sort of weird.....the dishes, glasses, pots and pans were the same all through my childhood and even into my adult years.  We didn't change or replace dishes like we do today.  I don't think my kids are going to have as much fun going through my things.  Here are a few things that my sister and I found.  You may find this sort of funny, but we were like kids in a candy store.

Yes, that is an egg poacher.  My grandmother would fix me a poached egg and put it on toast - it was always a special breakfast.  Luckily, we found two of them so my sister took one and I took the other.  See that rolling pin?  Yes, the handle is broken off of one side and that is how I always remembered it.  I can see her rolling out the dough for "poppie" on Sunday morning.  She worked fast, maneuvering the rolling pin around and stretching the dough until it was perfect.  Then the dough would have to "dry" before she cut it up and put it in with the boiling beef or boiling chicken.  Sometimes she would let me drop the squares of dough into the boiling water and I could watch it puff up.  And, then her egg beater with the worn green handle - another prized possession. I just loved watching her cook and bake - she always explained everything and let me help.

We found a few more treasures - the beat-up tin pie pan that she always used to flour meat.  The tin measuring cups with the beat-up rounded bottoms.  We'll wait and divide these items later after we finish going through all the cabinets.  I know there will be some flat tin lids that I will want.

In going through our treasured memories, my brother, sister and I can get a little overwhelmed at times - there is so much to go through.  But then I look at the covered glass hens on the window sill all covered in dust and see the copper teapot clock on the wall that no longer works and a feeling of peace comes over me and brings a smile to my face.  Thank you Mother and Grandma for such wonderful treasures and memories.           

Oh, Silver Christmas Tree!

Just removed my Christmas tree from the house and it is now down at the curb.  Surely, they will still pick it up.  I know, it is January 22nd.  There was still some water in the stand and you know, it wasn't as heavy as when we brought it into the house.  I just follow the saying "Don't do today, what you can put off until tomorrow."  Oh, that's not how it goes?  Sorry, too late to change now!

I'm not sure why or exactly when I started thinking about my Grandmother's silver Christmas tree, but I have been obsessing about the tree for sometime now.  Is it still in the house somewhere?  When was the last time she used it?  In Indianapolis?  In Marion?  In Greentown?  Just can't remember and my sister doesn't remember either.  (By the way, she was of no help in trying to talk me out of getting a silver tree).  We haven't gotten through everything at the house, but is it even there?  Now, my grandmother would have gotten rid of something she no longer wanted.  Just don't know.  Hmmm!  Maybe I need to start looking for one.  It would just be so cool.  Oh, I would still have to have a real Christmas tree.  Maybe I could set the silver tree up in my pretty lavender guest room - that room faces the street and wouldn't that be so pretty and festive.  Ok, searched for one in eCrater - no vintage silver aluminum trees.  Well, let's just check eBay and see how much they run.  Oh, quite a few and wouldn't you know it - lots of people are searching for vintage silver aluminum Christmas trees.  OK, we'll just put a few on my watch list and see how it goes.  I'll need one of those rotating color lights, too.

  

In the meantime, I will look through old family pictures to see if I can find any pictures of the silver Christmas tree.  Wow!  Found some pics.  Christmas at my Grandmother's with the silver Christmas tree.  This was when we lived on 34th Street in Indianapolis, In.  This must have been when I was around 15 so in the early 1960s.  My grandmother's sister, Goldie and her husband and daughter had come up from Florida to spend Christmas with us.   

My Grandmother would also decorate the fireplace, stringing lights and hanging net stockings filled with fruit and nuts.  By the way, that furniture is still in the house that we are going through.  This second picture is of my brother, sister, mother and I (sitting in the rocking chair). 

The last picture is my Aunt Goldie (my grandmother's sister), Uncle Earl, Uncle Acel (my mother's brother), my grandmother, sister, mother and me.  Isn't it weird that we use to dress up to open gifts?  I love looking at old pictures and remembering my wonderful memories. 

But, I really need to get back to cleaning up my living room and rearranging the furniture back to pre-Christmas.  Tomorrow is football!  So, I really need to get it done.  Can't put it off until tomorrow ......... or can I?



The Search for the Perfect Christmas Tree

Yesterday, my daughter, son-in-law and newest grandson, Jascha, went in search for my Christmas tree.  I have to have a real tree - it is just important to me.  As a young child, we didn't have a Christmas tree on Christmas.  At times we decorated the fireplace at my Grandmother's house and then a little later, my Grandmother did get one of those artificial silver trees with the revolving color light that changes the silver to green, blue, red and yellow.  Oh, I enjoyed rocking in my rocking chair watching the colors change on the shimmering tree.  It was pretty, but, in my heart I always wished we had a real tree.  

The first year I was married, my husband and I bought a tree for my Grandmother.  We picked it out, took it over to her house, set it up and decorated it.  I don't believe we told her we were going to before we did it - it was like my surprise to her - I was giving her something that I just knew she had always wanted.  Looking back I'm not sure she was all that excited about it.  Oh, she smiled and let us put it up.  But come to think it, her expression was probably more of an "OMG, what am I going to do" expression.  (she would have used the term "goodness" not "God").  By the next Christmas, my Grandmother had moved to a different town and my oldest daughter was born so no more surprise Christmas trees for my Grandmother.  

How we pick out my Christmas tree has changed over the years.  There were a few years that we had an artificial tree back in the late 1970s and early 1980s but, since then it has been back to the real trees.  Jascha is my youngest grandson and he is now the Christmas tree approver for me.  Yesterday was his second year for this most important duty.  You see it must be the most beautiful tree in the lot with something that sets it apart from all the rest.  Most important, it must be a hugable tree.  As you can see, Jascha has the process down pat.  It must past the smell test,  then he makes sure that there are no missing needles and then of course, the taste test.

 It is obvious, he is a perfectionist when it comes to Christmas trees and understands how important picking out the perfect Christmas tree is for Grandma.  After running between the rows of trees, some short and some tall, he finally finds the Christmas tree that is worthy.  Once we get the tree to Grandma's house, we put it in its stand and feed it some water, making sure the best side faces the front for all to admire.  Also want to make sure there is plenty of room around the tree for presents from Santa.  We'll let it sit for a day before decorating so the branches can fall into place.  Ah, looks perfect.  

Now, Grandma, what about those flamingos?      

Lunch At The Five & Dime With My Grandmother

I loved spending time with my Grandmother when I was little.  When we didn't live with her, I would still visit her on weekends or a week here and there.  I loved watching her sew.  When I was really little around 3 and 4 years of age (early 1950s), she would let me sit on the sewing machine extension and watch her.  I loved seeing how fast she could get that needle going and listening to the whining hum of the machine - it always whined higher the faster she would go.  She was a dressmaker by trade and had her own business.  She not only did alterations, but also made clothes for others.  I loved watching her customers trying on their clothes and her pinning and marking the alterations to be made.  She would let me play with scraps of material so that I could make clothes for my dolls.  There was a card table next to her sewing machine for handwork and I had a chair across from her so I could work too.  She always had a radio on - we would work, listen to music and talk.  And, when I got tired of sitting, I could dance in front of the floor length mirror and pretend I was a ballerina.  Every once in a while I would check to see if she was watching me (it would embarrass me if she did) and she was always working on her sewing project not paying any attention to me so my freedom of dancing could continue.  She never called me a princess, but I was definitely her princess just like my oldest granddaughter is to me.

Every Saturday morning, she would go downtown to get her notions, supplies and materials needed for the next week.  If I was staying with her, I would get to go downtown to shop with her.  We got dressed up and would catch the Delaware-Central 19 bus to go downtown.  I loved her holding my hand when we walked up those big steps of the bus and the bus driver smiling at us.  She always bought most of her notions at J.C. Penney's.  This store was located on the Circle in Indianapolis and the Soldiers and Sailors Monument was in the middle.  Here is a picture of it (Photo by Ruth Reichmann) - copied this off the Internet so hopefully, I'm not in too much trouble. 

It was  really tall and there were cascading water falls on two sides of it.  It was so beautiful.  The fabric department at J.C. Penney was on the second floor.  It was so much fun touching all of the fabrics and feeling the different textures - velvet, corduroy, flannel, satin, silk and organza.  I think my favorite fabric was polished cotton - it was so shiny and smooth.  I know, sounds weird, but I was a child.  And, yes, I still have to touch everything when I go shopping for clothes or material.  Now, if we were going to more than one store, it was hard keeping up with her - she walked fast.  And, there was no such thing as a mall.  We had to walk out in the weather, cross busy streets and it was noisy and so many people.  But it was all worth it because we always got to eat lunch at the five and dime.  We had a choice of Woolworth's, Kresge's or the G.C. Murphy dime store.  Sometimes she would let me choose.  Usually, we had to wait a few minutes so we could get two seats to open up together.  I loved watching all the people while we waited and the anticipation of a waitress asking me what I wanted to eat made me feel so special.  

After we ate, we would have to walk back to the Circle to the bus stop and catch the bus back home.  Did I tell you that my Grandmother was a fast walker?  My legs were always hurting by this time and I couldn't wait to get on the bus and sit down in those big seats.  But, once we arrived home and she was putting away her threads, zippers and seam binding, I was looking forward to going shopping with my Grandmother again and eating lunch at the five and dime.          

Midwest Memories from an ESN Blogger - Button Banter

This morning I was catching up on some blogs that I follow from some fellow eCrater sellers.  I thoroughly enjoy reading Button Banter.  Joyce also writes the blogs - Postscripts from The Postcard Emporium and Grandma Seidar's Recipes.  It only takes a few minutes, whether you are reading her blogs or reading her "About Me" pages on her eCrater stores, that you feel that you have just met your long lost best friend.  I don't know if it is because she is from the Midwest or grew up in the 1950s or was greatly influenced by her grandmother, but it's like I am looking in the mirror when reading her stories and sharing her memories.  Joyce also has three eCrater stores that you need to visit - Melodies Forgotten and The Postcard Emporium will take you back in time.  You might be able to find a postcard of a familiar place of your past.  I sure was. 

Here is a postcard of the Das Deutsche Haus in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Now called the Athenaeum, this building is located near downtown at 401 E. New York Street, not too far from where I grew up as a small child.  This building was built as two wings starting in 1893 and finishing in 1898.  One of the architects was Bernard Vonnegut, grandfather of novelist Kurt Vonnegut and a very prominent family of Indianapolis, In.  You really need to check out The Postcard Emporium as Joyce also includes names and addresses on the vintage postcards as a way for people to find geneology information.  I just find this fascinating.  

I know, got carried away again in memories.  Just can't help it.  Well, I'm off to look at some more postcards.  Why don't you check out my friend's blogs.  Joyce would love to share her memories with you, too.

      

Family Traditions Are For The Present

Thanksgiving will soon be here and for the past couple of years we have not had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the family members. With trips up to Indiana, our family traditions have sort of taken a back seat. 

Growing up, we lived with my grandmother off and on for much of my childhood.  She was the oldest of five children and grew up on a farm.  She taught me how to sew and cook and I was very close to her.  Family tradition was very important to her and that included birthdays.  We had quite a few birthdays in December.  My great-grandfather's birthday was on the 22nd and mine was on the 26th.  My youngest daughter was born on the 12th.  This picture was taken at my grandmother's house in celebration of our three birthdays.  My great-grandfather turned 90 years old.  I turned 24 and my daughter 2.  Yes, our birthdays were usually celebrated on Christmas.

As I was looking at some of these old pictures and thinking about earlier memories of our family - (this picture is my grandmother, mother, me and my brother), I was thinking how safe I felt as a child.  I had both my grandmother and mother to talk to about anything.  Sometimes I miss her so much.  Then the phone rang and it was my oldest daughter.  "What are you doing for Thanksgiving", she asked.  She was going to have to work part of Thanksgiving day (retail never sleeps) and then go in early Friday morning.  I hadn't had Thanksgiving dinner for two years.  I have 3 grown kids, 7 grandchildren and a great-grandson and they all live close to me.  That certainly isn't very common in this day and age.  So, our Thanksgiving tradition is returning this year.  Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on TV in the morning!  Football the rest of the day!  All the traditional foods including my grandmother's pumpkin pie.  Although I know the recipe by heart, I will get out her hand-written recipe and read it.  At the end of the recipe she wrote "Good pie" and that will make me feel safe.  I will feel her love and I will smile. 

"Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go"  

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone  

The Broken Cup

Going through my mother's things, we ran across a wrapped item in a box - felt kind of fragile.  We carefully unwrapped it and inside was a broken cup.  Just a plain white coffee cup that looked like millions of other restaurant-type cups.  Because of the other items in the box, we knew it had not been broken after it was packed.  At the time, my brother, sister and I thought this was pretty funny.  Our mother had wrapped it after it was broken - not able to throw it away.  Even though this cup wasn't worth anything and could not be fixed, that was just the way she was.  Even the most worthless object was special to her.

It's been over a year since we found that cup.  In my mind, I can see her wrapping that plain, white, broken coffee cup.  Gingerly, taking her time to make sure every piece of broken china was secure and carefully placing it in the box with some of her other pretties.

What did we do with the cup?  Well, after sharing some laughter and other memories, we carefully rewrapped the broken cup and place it back in the box to go through later.  I'm not sure that we will be able to throw that worthless, plain, white, broken coffee cup away.  Perhaps, we will leave that for the next generation.

Memories of Childhood

Picture taken in 1955 of my mother, baby sister, brother and I. I sometimes forget how pretty my mother was and how much she loved us kids. I love this picture of us!

This is my first attempt at blogging. I have been selling collectibles online for 3 years now and have decided that I really need to keep up with all the networking that one needs to do to get buyers to their store sites. With 3 1/2 years until retirement, I have finally found what I would like to do when I grow up - selling memories online. I love old carnival glass and being from Greentown, Indiana, I am also a collector of Greentown glass.

For now I am going to attach something I wrote on Mother's Day of this year about my Mother. Along with talking about the treasures we are finding, I will be sharing some of our memories that come with the treasures.

Mother's Day For A Special Mother

My mother is no longer with us but will live in my heart forever. She passed away September 9, 2008 at the age of 87. She had suffered from dementia with lewy bodies. Her happiness was her home, being surrounded by her "pretties" and her privacy. This disease took that away from her.
My mother's greatest gift was her unconditional love for my brother, sister and I. She raised us kids on her own, working in a factory until she retired. Growing up as young children in the early '50s, it's amazing what she accomplished through hard work and perseverance. Although, she had to work outside the home, the rest of her time was devoted to us kids. She loved us and talked to us about everything. She would buy records (45s) and play them on our record player. We'd sing and dance in the living room. She would read to us from the Bible, especially stories about how Jesus loved little children.

She was also very creative, making up her own stories and telling us - I loved listening to her stories when I was little. We could play with our toys in the living room - I don't think she ever told us not to mess anything up. We were poor, but we didn't know it because of her unconditional love for us. Did she ever get mad at us? Well, the only time she would get mad was if my brother and I would fight. She did not like fighting at all. Oh, and maybe the time I cut my sister's hair that had never been cut before ..... we'll just leave that for another story.

My mother enjoyed collecting things and going to auctions and never, never threw anything away. She had always saved newspapers even when we were little kids. She'd like to cut out recipes and fashion advertisements - well, just about anything that caught her attention. When grocery stores started selling dinnerware in the '50s and '60s, she started buying dinnerware - she liked every pattern! When she retired, that's when she started going to auctions and really started collecting. In her eyes, anything old, especially glass, was beautiful and special. I don't think any auctioneer had to put back a box due to no bidders if she was in the audience. Most items are still in the boxes that she brought home from the auctions, still carefully wrapped in the same newspapers. She also loved to read and belonged to about every book club there was. And, I would almost bet that her Avon rep received sales awards having my mother as her customer. She saved all of our clothes, our toys and school papers as we were growing up.

It is taking us quite a while going through all her things and to be honest, I don't know when we will be done. She had always said we would have fun going through her things. Wasn't convince at the time, but she was right. My brother, sister and I have found a new closeness that we had not shared in a long time. Not only are we finding our childhood memories, but we are also finding things including her written personal thoughts that bring awareness about how unique and wonderful our mother was.
At times there are tears, but then there is laughter, so, yes Mother, we are having fun going through your treasures. You see, these "things" are our memories, too.