My Mom

My mother died May 18 and her funeral was May 25.
I was out of town and busy and haven't had a chance to post.
Last Saturday my sister and I were at her house, cleaning up a little bit. Mom had gone into the hospital in early 2011 and expected to get back home, so everything in the house was pretty much as she left it that day. For a long time she'd been sorting through things and as usual, her counter was covered with stuff. As I cleaned off the counter I found all sorts of interesting things. Lots of recipes clipped from the newspaper, all dated. One from 1985. One from 1998. I found a letter my dad had written her in the 1970's from Aurora, IL. I found little flags that she had saved from the summer reading program at the library from the early 1960's. As you read books, you got to move your flag up the paper maiche mountain. I recognized those flags as soon as I found them and was so touched that Mom saved them. Weird, but neither of us have forgotten that contest.

Mom had canceled stamps she'd clipped, clothing tags she'd clipped, an old childhood whistle. In her box of important papers like insurance and certificates of deposit, she had little Heinz pickle pins and ketchup bottles. We are just beginning to touch the tip of the iceberg that is mom's house and her store of memories and I can see how I am like her. So many of these things mean something to me. I think she very much enjoyed looking through it all again in the last few years. And I will enjoy and be touched by what I find.

I would never have recalled that battered blue and white plastic whistle, but the moment I saw it, I remembered it. I'm looking forward to what else is waiting to be discovered. Things used to have a lot of sentimental meaning for me. I like to keep things from my childhood. I don't know why. They just make me feel good. They connect me to happy times. I didn't think I was as attached to objects as I used to be. Now I don't know. Likely in the next year, my house will fill up with many things from my Mom and Dad's house. Some are valuable to me and some I know I will take because no one else values them. Many little things would mean nothing to a stranger, but those little paper flags mean a great deal to me.
M.H.