Stuff

Last blog was about keepsakes. Well, what about "stuff"? I have too much stuff. Ask my kids and husband. I have asked what are they going to do with this when I die. My husband said just set it by the side of the road. I said if he did that I would come back and haunt him. I have 2 huge totes of stamped lines ready to be embroidered. The granddaughters have shown some interest in that, I know I will probably not get them done. Then there is my fabric-5-6 huge totes of fabric and projects started but not yet finished. I have quilt blocks and quilt pieces cut out for table centerpieces and quilts, but will I get them finished? I have doll clothes I started when the girls still played with dolls. I have scraps of material from my daughters wedding dress (a dear friend made it). And we won't mention the mending basket. Then there are the dolls I was going to repair, some are very old, purchased on ebay when I was going to open a doll hospital. And silks for arrangements since that is a skill developed when I worked. Cermaics to paint, beads to string, decoupage to do, cardmaking and scrapbooking and all the tools and supplies. Oh yes and doll house furniture kits (ebay again) to furnish the doll house. Who will want any of this or do I sell it now and then what do I do since I am retired? Oh, I forgot the yarn for making afghans and the several hundred of books I have yet to read. Is it any wonder that my dust bunnies are growing? Who has time to clean? I want to finish so many things and as you get older you get slower. Some things I need to let go, but like I have said I am a "collector" and there is always the idea that maybe I will get things done:)

Keepsakes

I have become the family's keeper of the keepsakes. I tend to be like my granny-I collect things. Not necessarily valuable things to anyone but me. Two of my sisters have passed on some items they had with the idea I will value them and keep them. They are correct. I have a bunch of old sepia tintype pictures that look like some of mom's ancestors, but I have no idea who they are. My aunt in Fla. might know if I could ever show them to her. Also I have become the keeper of a very old Bible about 6 inches thick that someone gave to Dad. It was printed in the 1800's, is falling apart, but in Dad's handwriting inside it says do not sell. Mom & Dad had 3 different times in their lives when they were apart. They wrote letters back and forth each time. Those letters are very fragile so I want to read them, put them in order and print copies and make a book of them for anyone else in the family that wants to read them. What is amazing to me is that they each kept the others letters, then Mom saved them all! What great history of their love for each other. So I guess it wasn't just grannies collecting, it was Mom too. Wonder what my kids will want to keep of mine?

Grandchildren

It is great to watch grandchildren grow and change, but it is also bittersweet. Two of my grandsons will graduate from High School this year. One is going to IU and the other is going into the Air Force. I realize that our relationship will change and that is more difficult for me then when my children "left the nest". When they come home for visits, their time will be taken up with friends and mom & dad. I hope they save some time for Mammaw. It has been so wonderful to watch them grow into fine young men. My mom used to tell me grandchildren were the best thing ever and if she had known how great it was she would have had them first (haHa). Children give joy, work and lots of worry; grandchildren give joy without the work and worry. You still worry, but not about the day to day things. I would not take any money in the world for the hugs and kisses and talks they give me. I look forward in some ways to the future and what it might hold for all 10 of my grandchildren. What will they become, what will they do, where will they go, but I also wish time would slow down. Hopefully I will take time this summer to spend as much time as possible and hold them close for awhile.

Finally figured out how to get this started. I enjoy the computer and all you can do with it, but not growing up in the "techie" age it is a little slow to figure out sometimes. It amazes me to see my grandchildren pop on the computer zip through different things faster than I can read the directions. I wonder what "new" ideas and inventions are out there in someones mind ready to be developed. I remember my grandmother talking about all the advancements and changes she had seen in her lifetime. She was born in the late 1800's and saw advancements in transportation. What awaits us? Will it be a blessing or a curse? Seems like all inventions and advancements have both.
Television-we have entertainment at our fingertips, movies to view whenever, information from all over the world but it can become ruler of our lives. I can remember life before television. We read, we played games, we used our imaginations, we were active.
We were one of the last homes in our neighborhood to get a TV. Dad said it was not going to last, I think it was the cost. Before TV Dad would play games with us. How many kids can say their Dad sat on the floor and played "Jacks", pick up sticks and other games with them. Once TV game into the house and Dad discovered sports on it that ended the play time.