Little Things that Mean a Lot

 When my mother died and I was faced with the task of cleaning out her house, I was very grateful that during each visit with her during the last 10 years of her life, she had insisted that we clean out her closets, storage house and attic.  Her feeling was that if I didn't want something that she had, then she should get rid of it.  Of course I did want a lot!  My mother had saved many things from my childhood and those are treasures to me.  Now that I am getting older, I'm also sorting and deciding what is worth keeping.   It isn't easy for me to let things that my mother saved for 60+ years go.  Maybe taking photos of some of them and sharing their meaning will make it easier for me.

Here are 3 souvenirs that I bought during the period of time we lived in Sicily - 1960 - 1963.

The blue vase is from Syracuse,  Italy.  I have no idea why this particular place made such an impression on me.  I was just 6 years old but when we went back to Sicily in 1999 with the boys, I remembered it very well.  Don't you love that in the 60's when you were a tourist in Italy, women wore dresses?

The 'leaning tower of Pisa' was a weather forecaster.  It had some sort of sparkling glitter on the sides which changed color depending on the weather.  Of course the glitter is long gone.  I bought this in Pisa when we made a trip up through Italy to Germany.  

Can you believe there is not one photo of me in Pisa?  My mother didn't take a lot of photos and Daddy was using his movie camera that day.  

I am glad that my Grandma Boyle also was a saver and kept this postcard that my mother sent her.

I especially love the seven cent airmail stamp!  And I guess I did 'take it all in' since I remember the day in Pisa. 

One of my clearest memories is that there were a lot of children receiving their first communion and the little girls wore white dresses that looked like wedding dresses.  Oh, how I wanted one of those dresses since I loved playing 'bride'.  

I found this photo on-line from that time period.  Can't you see why a little girl would really want one?

I never got one.  My parents probably thought it was a bit sacrilegious and I also imagine that they were expensive.

Here is what my mother wrote about that day in Pisa in her trip journal.

I guess the line of girls in white dresses didn't make the same impression on her that it did on me.

I don't really know for sure where I got the small pink vase.  My mother gave me a large round cake plate that is the same color.  I am confident that it came from Catania, Sicily which is the large city close to the base.  When I google 'pink Sicilian Glass' I find that  Williams Sonoma has pink "Sicilian' tableware.  No one around that knows for sure anymore!

All of my treasures aren't from my childhood!

This one was a gift from George when we were dating.

He was a Sunday school teacher in our student congregation.  In one of his lessons he was teaching on the importance of spreading joy by doing little things.  Since it happened to be my birthday, he gave me this small trinket.  Quite the object lesson and I have kept it all these years.  It has been stored in a box but I just put it on display to remind me of the JOYS I've experienced since that Sunday in 1974. My kids may throw it away but I will keep it always to remind me of that skinny young guy that I fell in love with.

Don't we look young?  I was 21 and George was 23.  We WERE young!

The last 'treasure' is one from our time living in Barcelona.  

For most of the 5 years we were there, I led the music in our church's children's organization.  Among the many adorable children were 6 girls from one family.  I loved them and they loved me.  The youngest would often come and sit on my lap during meetings.  George and I have been lucky to attend several of their weddings in Salt Lake and get reacquainted with these girls, now strong women!

Unfortunately I only have a photo of mom and 3 of the girls.

One Sunday they very excitedly gave me these little swans.

Tucked inside were several notes they had written me.

After mentioning that they loved me, they practiced all the English words that they had been learning at school, and wrote a scripture from Genesis.  For more than 22 years I have kept this memento of these little girls and one of the sweetest times in my life when I learned that love knows no boundaries, not language, culture, or age.

In the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up when discussing how to sort 'sentimental items', Marie Kondo writes this, "It is not our memories but the person we have become because of these past experiences that we should treasure.  This is the lesson these keepsakes teach us."

So what have the experiences associated with these keepsakes taught me:

1.  Travel changes you when you 'take it all in'.

2.  Find and give joy with simple things.

3.  Love cuts across language barriers, cultural differences and disparate ages.  

 

 

A Different Thanksgiving

 Mary and Mark were celebrating with his family in West Virginia.  Matt and his girlfriend drove to Portland to be with her family and also with Scott so we were just going to have John, Monica and Isabella for Thanksgiving dinner.  Cooking a big dinner for a such a small group didn't sound like a good plan so we went to Chuck-a-Rama.  We all have lots of good memories of enjoying the big buffet with George's Dad.  He loved places that were reasonably priced where you could load up your plate and even put some rolls in your pocket to take home! 

Seems like lots of people had the same idea.  I was surprised but the hour long wait to be seated wasn't that bad.  Being with family makes everything better!

The food was actually very good and the huge selection meant that there was something for everyone to enjoy.

Isabella ate chicken and French fries but she especially loved the slushy drinks.  

A 'two fisted' drinker!  With this plan you don't have to pick just one flavor.

The rolls were delicious, especially with the honey butter.  I WAS tempted to put a couple in my pocket but I resisted!

Such a great meal with fun conversation and no dishes to do when it was over!

We were all stuffed and happy!

Afterwards we played games at our house....and eventually ate some pie that I had made.

One of the  'girls" won each of the 6 Uno games so we were the Champions of the World, much to Isabella's delight!

Then we played a new one, a geometric cube matching game which proved to be a hit as well.  We didn't keep score so no world champions for this one!

And we ended the night with some time playing pool.

I think the hat made John look like a pool shark!

Grandpa gave Isabella some pointers.

She will be better when she gets a bit taller but it was still fun. 

Isabella also spent some time with a tried and true favorite, the Frozen magnets.  

She has decided that she loves wearing glasses. 

A quick Isabella story - Last Sunday she and I sat down with the book that contained all the 'thankful turkey feathers' that we have written over the years.  She was especially interested in the ones her Daddy has written starting when he was about 3 years old.  When he was on his mission he signed his feather, "John AKA Elder Lewis'.  We didn't talk about what that meant, we just read it together.  I was surprised when she wrote out her thank you feather and signed it, "Isabella AKA Izzy'.  She explained that one boy in her 1st grade class calls her Izzy.  I love the connections her mind makes and how quickly she learns and remembers things.  Grandpa explained what AKA meant but somehow she had figured that out and remembered just from the signature from her Dad's mission.

Just a bit of Grandma bragging about my smart little granddaughter. 

Slimy Day!

 Slimy day sounds like something negative doesn't it?  Actually it was a perfect day since we spent it with Isabella.  George and I took her to the "Slime" exhibit at the Idaho Discovery Center.

McDonalds for lunch - anyone who knows me understands that going to McDonald's illustrates just how much I love this little girl.  I never ever pick McDonalds but they do have the best French fries around.

Next playing at the park.  The cold didn't bother her.  I don't think I've ever played at a park when there was still a patch of icy snow on the ground.

Isabella was all smiles!

Finally the SLIME!

It's gooey, messy science based fun with lots of interactive exhibits.

Plus plenty of SLIME to touch and play with.

I admit it is quite mesmerizing! 

Interestingly it didn't stick to my hands at all, while other people were really having to peel it off.  Don't know the scientific reason for that!

A favorite of everyone was the giant slime bubble.

She is surrounded by slime!

The discovery center had a couple of new activities that I hope will be permanent. 

A really fun building center where Isabella, under Grandpa's watchful eye, built a satellite by following a pictorial example.

She also really got into making paper airplanes and then using the launching machine to make them fly.

As is our tradition, we ended the day with doughnuts.

A perfect ending to a perfect Grandpa, Grandma, Isabella date!