My mother’s death brought to mind many memories for all her family members. My son sent my father a letter describing one of his memories–a time when my mother instructed him in how to bake a cake. He was a Cub Scout at the time, and the pack was holding […]
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Untold Stories From Pictures: A Brother-Sister Relationship
One of my tasks before my mother’s recent funeral was to put together a slide show of her life. I’ve mentioned in an earlier post that my father and maternal grandfather both took many photographs over the years, so the problem was not finding pictures of my mother. She lived […]
Continue readingMusings on a Prussian Coffee Service
Many family heirlooms—or future heirlooms—have sentimental value because of the stories behind them. But the stories of others are lost to time. I have a porcelain coffee pot and six matching demitasse cups and saucers that are in the latter category. My mother sent the set to me not too […]
Continue readingMemories of Green and Orange on St. Patrick’s Day
We celebrated the major holidays in our family—Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, but we didn’t celebrate many minor holidays. Except St. Patrick’s Day. My mother made sure we celebrated that. My maternal grandmother (Nanny Winnie) was half Irish and half Scotch. My Irish great-grandmother, Cecelia Ryan, died well before my mother […]
Continue readingDon’t Worry, Be Happy
My maternal grandmother was always happy. At least that’s how I remember her. Her birthday was in mid-March, so I think of her often this time of year. As I’ve mentioned before, we called her Nanny Winnie. She was too light-hearted for “Grandmother,” though she could have been a “Granny.” […]
Continue readingMy Son, My Mother, and Hallmark Cards
Several months ago I was cleaning out a drawer that should have been cleaned out long, long before. I found a file of greeting cards from the year my son was born. (I won’t say the year, but I will say he was born in mid-February, in the middle of […]
Continue readingTo Grandmother’s House We Go
In all the years we’ve been married, my husband and I have never spent Christmas at home. We’ve been responsible for a few Thanksgivings, but never a Christmas. This is primarily my daughter’s fault. She does not believe that I am capable of “doing” Christmas. Oh, my husband and I […]
Continue readingGiving Up Divinity
My paternal grandmother’s chocolate fudge and divinity were part of many of my childhood Christmases, along with her fruitcake. I didn’t care for the fruitcake, but I did love the candy. She made two colors of divinity, pink and green. One of the batches she would make without nuts, because […]
Continue readingMy Grandmother’s Celtic Cross
I’ve written other posts this year about jewelry I received from my maternal grandmother—earrings she bought for me and another heirloom she gave me. Today’s post is about a Celtic cross pin that belonged to my grandmother, which my mother gave me shortly after my grandmother died. I don’t […]
Continue readingMemories Prompted by an Amethyst Pin
My maternal grandmother gave me an amethyst pin many years ago. I don’t remember exactly when, but I wore it frequently with a purple plaid dress I had in 1985, so I probably received the pin about that time. I enjoyed wearing it with a navy or grey blazer over […]
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