52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
Week 8 Prompt – Heirloom
Week 8 Prompt – Heirloom
When I was first married, my
grandmother Mclaughlin (from previous blogs) was still living. She
was quite lucid but did experience some forgetfulness from time to
time. One evening while my husband and I were visiting for tea she
noticed me admiring her china cabinet and her beautiful china with
in. She pointed and talked about a few pieces of china when she
decided to give me a tea cup and saucer which she said she had since
she was first married to “Benny” and was a gift from him. The
funny thing is that for the life of me I can't remember much about
its design. I vaguely recall maybe a yellow rose design but not much
else. Pity. I gingerly took home this almost 50 year old cup and
saucer. She lived in Saskatoon and at the time I lived in Regina.
A few months down the road I receive a
frantic call from my grandmother. First of all this was in the mid
1970's. I had never received a call from my grandmother ever before.
Long distant phone calls were expensive and rarely done except in
extreme circumstances. Grandmother was beside herself because she
could not find her special tea cup and saucer that Benny had given
her. She told me that she heard from one of my siblings that I had
it. She really wanted to know why I took it and basically was
accusing me of stealing it from her house. I was flabbergasted and
bewildered. I tried to tell her that she had given it to me as a
keepsake, but she was not buying it. Later that week my mother called
me asking me what was going on with this tea cup and saucer. I
explained the story and we decided that I would return it to her on
my next visit to Saskatoon. My grandmother was happy to get it back
and still had no recollection of giving it to me.
I have never seen the cup and saucer
since that time. My mother died before grandmother. When
grandmother died she had just her one son, Wally, living. He came to
Saskatoon and cleaned out her home and very few heirloom type
belongings were ever passed on to my siblings and I .
My dear grandmother was such a loving
and kind soul. It did cause me to think about aging and losing one's
memories. Further I wondered just how intricately one's memory is
attached to physical things. In my grandmother's case the loss of a
special tea cup and saucer must have seemed like a loss of someone
she held near and dear to herself.
I may not have the physical “heirloom”
but I do have one heck of a story and a memory that takes up very
little physical space.
Wendy
No comments:
Post a Comment