Yesterday my mother and youngest sister came for a visit. Mother is trying to give away the last of her things in her small senior citizen apartment, since she is now living with my sister. She has dispersed much of her lovely things among her five remaining children, during the past couple of years. I received a few more things during their visit, including two silver trays, a Princess House crystal “Fantasia” platter, two teapots and a pitcher.
This reminded me of the 2 framed memorabilia collages I have in my bedroom. They are both hand-stitched by me. One of these shows hankies and doilies framed under glass. These were stitched on a white background, with a border of white lace. I picked up the beautiful old 26”h x 29”w wood frame at a junk shop in town for a few dollars.
Over the years, my Mother gave me many lovely handkerchiefs, many with the initial “L” for my first name. (She only calls me by my middle name, Carol, since I dislike using my first name, which is difficult to spell as well as pronounce.) The two lower hankies, the white one with initial “L” and the blue and white one are gifts from her. The blue crochet-bordered doily, part of a set of six, embroidered white hankie and white doily were my purchases since I love embroidered and crocheted textiles.
Another maternal gift is the initialed kerchief, white embroidered in blue just below the frame. She gave me that one last October 2006 at the eightieth birthday celebration for her sister in New York. (She herself turned 89 this September 2007)
The framed collage above my bed contains mostly of dainty off-white items I put together on a cream fabric background. In the upper left, is a piece of Belgian silk lace I bought in an antique store; below it is a rectangular piece of crochet; then a purse mirror from Mother. It has a mother of pearl handle and gilt mirror. A small purse comb is sewn against a round crochet doily, across from a pair of black enameled cuff links from Morocco, a gift from an uncle who worked aboard an ocean liner. The rhinestone brooch was worn by my mother on many festive occasions. The four crocheted circles are also from Mother, as is the vintage looking postcard which she sent me when I was away at college. Above her handwritten greeting the printed message reads,
“No special news
No special reason
Just thinking about you
That’s always in season”
This little verse is certainly expressive of the heartfelt affection we have shared as a family over the years. My sisters and I are particularly keen to keep close ties with each family member, since we lost our father in November 2005 and my eldest brother in April 2006. At the same time we feel blest to add various items from the older members of the family while they are still here with us.
