I don’t know if y’all remember my “attic saga” from a few months ago, but I wanted to tell you about a particular treasure I found. The attic floor was sagging from all the “stuff” that was stored up there—yes, it was all stuff I had kept, but in my defense a lot of it had come from other places: My mom’s and dad’s when they could no long live at home; my oldest sister when she had her stroke and had to go into a nursing home; and of course, the things I’d kept for my kids; and my OWN keepsakes! WHEW! That was a lot!
Everything has been cleaned out and gotten rid of or “re-kept”, but I’m down to a total of about 18 containers now from probably close to 75 or 80. There were still 5 or 6 that I had not gone through that I’d brought downstairs, knowing they were going to take some time, since they were a hodgepodge of things that included correspondence and pictures, as well as other things.
My dad and mom on their 47th wedding anniversary
But the very first time I opened one of them up and started to go through it, I found something wrapped in cotton, and then in tissue paper, and a bag, and I knew that was something my mom had done. Mom was one to always write notes on things to let us know what they were. This was something my sisters and I would roll our eyes at, because she was so detailed in the descriptions she wrote.
But this time, I was so glad.
This treasure was something I’d never seen or known about. It was a sugar bowl. The note explained it all, and I still get teary when I think of it.
You see, my sisters were 10 and 12 when I was born, so a good part of my parents’ lives together had already happened by the time I came along. Certainly, the very hard times of first starting out together, of having their first home, and their first child (and second!) and those lean years that were now in the past.
But the sugar bowl told the story in a way conversational description could not.
When I unwrapped it, it was a China pattern I had never seen, so the sugar bowl must have remained after the other pieces had been broken. Maybe that’s why she saved it. I took the lid off, half-hoping there would be a note inside to tell why it had been wrapped so carefully and kept all those years.
I was not disappointed. This note is so typical of the things my mom wrote and taped to keepsakes. She didn’t want her life or the past to be forgotten. What a blessing to have found this!
This just made my heart glad in so many ways, and this sugar bowl, with the note inside, is sitting on the top shelf of my desk so I can just glance up at it whenever I want. That remembrance she included in the note of how happy she and my dad were with their little family, before I was ever born, is something I will treasure forever.
Mom and Dad, newlyweds, 1944
Of everything I’ve come across in those crates from the attic, this is the most treasured item I’ve found so far. There is a chip in the lid, and a crack that has been glued back together, and Mom’s ever-present masking tape holding the lid shut so it won’t fall off and break, but it will take a lot to beat this treasure!
In my book, LOVE UNDER FIRE, my heroine, Krissy, finds the pink pistol amidst her possessions. She doesn’t know who it belongs to or how it came to be in her bag, but instantly, she admires the feel of the wooden case, and she knows it was carved with such love. That’s how I feel about this sugar bowl. That note my mom included is filled with love and gratitude for those sweet memories of earlier days.
Have you ever found or been given something that had been forgotten or put away that you felt this way about? Please tell us about it!
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A native Oklahoman, I've been influenced by the west all my life. I love to write short stories and novels in the historical western and western romance genres, as well as contemporary romantic suspense! Check my Amazon author page to see my work: http://www.amazon.com/author/cherylpierson
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When my mother died I found she had some things in storage. It turned into a lot of stuff and so many items we thought lost were found once more. My favorite item was the commemorative plate with The Austrian Emperor and the Kaiser made in World War 1. My mother collected British commemorative, but I found this piece. A lot of tge stugmff gives me joy, but this is one that shines.
David, that is sooo neat! I was given some Austrian cups and saucers by an elderly neighbor when I was about 11 or 12–at the time I didn’t appreciate them as I should, but now they are displayed on my mom’s old china cabinet shelves!
I have a lot of keepsakes passed down from my mom, many of them generational treasures. But the simple item that has meant the most to me recently is my mom’s cookbook, All about Home Baking, published by General Foods Corporation in 1939. But it’s not just the cookbook. The real treasure are all the handwritten recipes she tucked inside, and my memories of her cooking them. I have used these myself and feel a strong connection to the past every time I do.
Janice, that really IS a treasure! My mom cooked a lot by “memory” and I do have some of her recipes she wrote for me when I lived in WV and she lived in OK–I treasure those!
When we were cleaning out my Grandmother’s house, I found several things no one knew she had. They were several pieces of crystal dishes. They mean a lot to me.
Oh, my goodness–I bet those are just beautiful! I have been so thankful that my mom did write on the backs of pictures who everyone was, and put a piece of masking tape in dishes and so on that I would not have known the meaning of. Yes, I will do the same. My kids might not care NOW, but I think someday they will.
My grandma gave me her originsl wedding ring in 1990. Between arthritis and swelling, it no longer fit. But, it fit my finger.
After she died, we found the original pamphlet-style booklet which came with it. It’s so beautiful, Edwardian in style, with wedding lore, illustrations, and descriptions of all the rings in the collection. In the back, she wrote all of her siblings and their wedding dates.
I wear the ring and I treasure both pieces.
Oh, Denise. That is SUCH a wonderful treasure for you! The ring AND the pamphlet! How awesome that you found that pamphlet and have it to go with the ring!
My mom had some china that her dad brought back from WWII. On the back was stamped “Made In Occupied Japan”
Rhonda, that is probably really rare to find these days! My aunt and uncle were both in the Navy and were stationed in Japan after WWII. Oh, the BEAUTIFUL things they came home to the States with! She had an entire collection of those gorgeous little geisha dolls in glass cases–I remember going to visit them and just looking into those cases and studying their expressions and clothing and everything about them.
I was going through some stuff my uncle left me and I found the most beautiful bowl shaped like a leaf it was hand painted blue and gold and had made in occupied Japan on the back of it.
Linda, that sounds so beautiful! I mentioned above about my aunt and uncle being in Japan after WWII and they brought back some gorgeous dishes, too–so unusual. I really love those kinds of things.
yes after my dad passed we were cleaning out the house and found the death certificate, obituary and newspaper article about his dad’s death – (he passed before any of the 4 of us were born)! Most of the information was all new to us!
Teresa, THAT is so cool! I’m a genealogy freak–amateur, still learning, but love it all so much. Any kind of a find like that is fabulous, in my book!
I loooooove this, Cheryl!! How so very thoughtful and forward-thinking your mom was to put a note in that sugar bowl. Fascinating! I’m so glad you found it and are displaying it so you can enjoy it constantly!
Pam, she was soooo good to write stuff down in notes like this and put them with things, but usually not in such personal detail. Her notes usually consisted of more “Aunt Pittypat” kinds of info and were on the backs of pictures, about who everyone was, who their parents were, etc. I was so thrilled to find this. I just love having it here in my office on my desk. I bet I look at that thing 100 times a day and every time, it gives me such a warm glow.
I have a small china cup and saucer that my Sunday school teacher gave me that she had since she was a little girl and she was in her seventy’s at the time. I have had it for about 55 years so its very old. I had put it up but found it a while back. I will never forget this lady.
I have some little cups and saucers that an elderly neighbor gave me as I mentioned in one of the comments above that were hers when she was young and at the time she passed them on to me she was in her 80’s. I’m 65, so they are OLD. LOL I won’t ever forget her, either. She was a dear!
I love doing family history, and when I find the name of a family member in records that I didn’t know about before, it brings me so much joy! I like to think that the individual who was just found is rejoicing up in heaven that they are no longer forgotten, but are found again!
I feel the same way, Ami! Oh my gosh, it is soooo rewarding just to read about them all and imagine them and their lives. I wish I had more time to work on genealogy–I’m going to try to do that MORE during the summer.
My sister and I had a child kitchen table and 2 chairs when we were little that our grandmother had bought us (from the mid fifties) that my daughter had used for her children. One of the chairs needed to be repaired and I thought my son-in-law had thrown it away. Fortunately I found it in my shed years later and I had the chairs repaired. The chairs look great! The table had to be repaired as well. My soon to be 4 year old grandson and 1 year old great-grandson enjoy sitting in them.
My mom and dad had gotten a really sturdy wooden one for my sisters when they were little–back in the late ’40’s-early 50’s. That thing lasted FOREVER and I used it, too. Even the grandkids all used it. I don’t know where it ended up, but sure hope it has a good home wherever it is, because it was really well-made! Sounds like yours was, too!
I have a silver sugar bowl that my Grand parents brought with them when they came to America.
it was on our table, for my whole childhood, into adulthood. When my parents retired and moved, to Arkansas, the sugar bowl went with them and sat on the table in their little retirement home. When they passed away, at 95, the Sugar bowl came home with me. It now sits on my table, and will, hopefully, do the same on my daughter’s table.
Nanci, that is soooo special. Such a great heirloom to be able to keep passing down! I have also found a box with a sugar bowl in it that was my grandmother’s. It was ceramic, and broken, but my mom kept it because of those memories she had of it, I’m sure. These sugar bowls sure carry a lot of amazing power, don’t they? The memories of love!
How wonderful to find such a treasure! I went through an old trunk(was my grandmother’s) that my mom and Dad refurbished, Many items in there but, the best was love letters my parents wrote to each other one summer before they married in October 1956. Now that is a treasure! One stack was wrapped in blue ribbon and the other in pink. LOL I tore into the blue first! I had to know what my father was like writing letters to my Mom at 17 years of age! I wasn’t disappointed in either stack! Young love! Can’t beat it…especially a lasting love!
Thanks Cheryl! I enjoyed your Love Under Fire!
Awww, TRACY! I have a stack of those letters, too, from my parents to one another, that I have not gotten a chance to look at, but I’m really thrilled to have them. I want to pick a time when I can be uninterrupted and just quietly read through them. THAT IS A TREASURE, for sure, and like you, I’m looking forward to ‘tearing into them’! LOLLOL My parents had known one another since they were 5 years old. They went to school together all their years, and then both were on their own. It was the first taste of freedom either of them had ever known since they were both the oldest in their families, with sooo much responsibility. Dad asked Mom 3 times to marry him before she finally accepted. I know they loved one another, but I think she was not ready for the responsibility just yet–she was working, in college, and probably just wasn’t ready to settle down to the “grind” of adult life. But she did just that, and there was never a truer love than what they had together.
I am so glad to know you enjoyed Love Under Fire, Tracy! Thanks so much for letting me know!
It’s always wonderful to find treasures from someone we treasure. I lots of things that belonged to my grandmother and my mom. The things I cherish most are not things, but the memories of them.
I understand completely, Kathleen! I have things of Mom’s that just conjure up so many memories–one thing is an apron I made for her when I was about 7 or so–a piece of material with curtain rings at the top, and a length of grosgrain ribbon through the curtain rings. I think that was a project we did in Sunday school, and she acted like that was the best gift she ever got when I gave it to her. She wore it A LOT too! LOL Memories are the very best!
That’s such a sweet story! When my Grandmother passed away last year she left some pretty glass drinking glasses for me. She never told me about them or the significance, but just the fact she wanted me to have them makes them special.
Oh Megan! That is the stuff of stories right there! Not knowing the significance, I’m sure you have imagined everything there is. There was a special reason she thought of you to have those glasses, you can bet! That is soooo special.
can’t think of anything
I’m glad you stopped by and read, anyhow! Always so good to see you here!
My “attic” is filled with other peoples’ possessions. I keep my own, of course, and buy from stores that help keep the past alive. I find their stories just as interesting as the ones handed down to me by family. I enjoyed the ornate picture frames of long gone eras and used them extensively throughout my house. My children, when they were young, used to tell their friends I had pictures of dead people. If asked, I would nod and tell them I had the peoples furniture as well…
HAHAHAHAAAAA! OMGOSH! You made me laugh out loud, Susan! You know what that made me think of? When I was about 10 my granddad died (Mom’s dad) and since we were on vacation at the time in North Carolina (we lived in Oklahoma), the family took pictures of the funeral and the coffin and…and…yep…Granddad IN THE OPEN COFFIN. Oh lordy! So Mom had put them in our coffee table drawer in the little envelope they sent when you got pictures developed. I would bring my friends into the house and pull that drawer open and show them those pictures. LOLLOL
I have only two keepsakes. I have my grandmother’s depression ware creamer. It is green glass with what looks like a quail stamped (?) into the glass. I also have her embroidery scissors. They are scissors with no point. My mother was never one for keepsakes, but I do have a collection of poems that she illustrated when she was in third grade. It was for school and it is amazing. The only reason it exists is because my grandmother kept it.
Dana, that poetry collection is a treasure for sure. My mom held on to just about everything, and it has been really hard to sort through the part of it I have and get rid of anything. I’m so glad you have those treasures. I don’t really have anything of my grandparents’ except that broken sugar bowl I mentioned in an earlier comment that was my grandmother’s.
My mother passed away when I was just 22 1/2 from a horrible tragedy. After her death we 3 sisters divided up her mementos, gloves she used to wear, jewelry she wore, hankies she always had with her when we went to church and little things which meant a great deal to her. Yet today I will go through these items and recall how beautiful she was with or without these mementos. I do not recall my mother saying a bad word but she did get upset once and a while at us kids, 1 out of 6, who slacked off or usually argued with one another over trifles, like all siblings usually do. I remember my childhood very fondly and easily picture her as she was then. Her death in 1967 came when she was only 41, soon to reach 42 when GOD took her home to be with HIM. So long ago yet the fond and beautiful memories are still very near and dear to my heart. I now also have some milk glass items she used, as well as a set of candlesticks given to Mom and Dad on their 25th anniversary, just 4 months before her passing. I thank the LORD for the few years I had with her and the one on one visits we had during those later years when I was already married.
Judy, I’m so sorry you lost your mother at such a young age. Mom and I had some tumultuous years, but looking back on them NOW I see them in a totally different light, as a parent myself, especially. I don’t know how I would have managed without having her in my life in my adult years. That must have been so hard for you! I know what you mean about the little things–I have a couple of pair of gloves of hers, and even a couple of old lipstick tubes! I miss my mom every day, and I know you do, too, from your post.
I didn’t know until I was probably in my 20’s or 30’s that my maternal grandfather and carved a ring for me. He did one for each of us four girls, and Mom kept mine until I was that old, as she wanted to make sure I kept it!! I still have it, it’s in my jewelry box. I don’t know if my sisters have theirs or not. I also have a brooch that had been my maternal grandmother’s. I was three and four when they passed, and have vague memories of them, but I have these two treasures!!!
Oh, Trudy! Those are certainly TREASURES! I’m so glad you have them and I know those items have to just mean the world to you, especially that carved ring! That is wonderful!
We had to clean out my Mom’s house. In her attic there were some old toys that I had played with that I hadn’t seen for a very long time. One of the things was my paper dolls. I still have them. They are probably about 65 years old.
Oh, Connie. I would love to find my paper dolls! I loved those dolls so much, and had a huge shoebox full of them. I cut mine out of magazines, and bought them–really collected them, and I had stories for all of them. I think that was what helped start my love of writing. So glad you found yours!
What a wonderful find. Those little treasures mean so much. I am starting the same process and have so much to go through. We have more than enough of our own stuff, my aunt’s things from a 3 bedroom house with full basement, attic, and large garage/shop. I didn’t have time to sort, just pack it up and drag it all to TN from Northern NY. Years later there are still boxes to go through. When going through her collection of Salt and Pepper shakers (I have 15 boxes of them) I discovered a set she got from Virginia Beach, VA. (She wrote the date she got them and where on most of them) My dad was in the Navy during the war and was stationed there when I was born. She came down to help my mom. This set had a case and the woman painted on the case looks just like my mom. We also have all my mother-in-law’s things, my old boss’s things (she had a husband with Alzheimer’s and it was a rushed move leaving much of their stuff for me to clear out), and things from a friend who just dropped them off. In addition I have my things from my time in the Peace Corps and my stuff from working as a children’s librarian. When going through my MIL’s things we found family pictures that my husband had never seen. We also found a couple special pieces of jewelry we were afraid had been taken. When we got my aunt’s things, I found a box of things my grandmother had. My uncle Pat was 18 when he was killed during the Korean War. They named the local Guard or Reserve unit in his memory. The box contained all the information on his service, the telegram notification, and the paperwork for the dedication. It also contained some of the military items he had. My aunt had also included her husband’s army uniform and the cape and hat from her Auxiliary role. (I don’t remember exactly what it was because I haven’t seen it in a while. I’m looking.). I know other treasures will show up, some I likely don’t know I have. Sorry I rambled on. I have been lucky to have had a full and varied life which has resulted in a full and varied supply of stuff.
Patricia, it is so hard to part with things that we’ve had from the past, both our own and those we are “keeping” for someone else. I just find it really hard to put things in the trash that meant so much to someone else, even if that someone has passed away and there is no one else to give their treasures to. Because I know it meant so much to them. I mentioned my mom’s china painting in a post I did a few months back. I will never part with that, but it saddens me to know that neither of my kids are planning on having children and though I can pass some of these treasures on to them, that will be the end of the line for them. I’m so glad that y’all found the family pics your husband hadn’t seen. That must have been such a thrill for him! I found some in one of the crates I was cleaning out that I had never seen and I think I got more excited over those than anything else in that crate! LOL So glad you came by–you never “ramble on”–I love your posts! You have had a wonderful life and the mementos and keepsakes to show for it! Hugs, my friend!
My Mom passed away in January. I have not had the heart to start going through the house yet. We have lived here with my Mom for 8-10 years before she went in the nursing home. I am sure I am going to run across treasures. Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you.
Debbie, I am sorry about your mom. That is so hard. My parents died within 3 weeks of one another. I was 50, and I felt bereft. I was an orphan of the world, and I felt it keenly. Some days, I still do. Grief takes time to work through and get to a place to where you can do these things. What I’m looking through now are crates that have been stored in my attic for 15 years. I could have done it before emotionally, but even now all this time later, I still get teary when I find special things like that sugar bowl. God bless you, too. Give yourself grace and take it one day at a time.