I was visiting my daughter in Fort Worth a few weeks ago. Just a day before
my trip a massive series of tornadoes touched down just 35 miles southwest of Fort Worth . Consider that
one of the twisters was 10 miles wide and the fact that the storm could have
hit closer to Tina was more than I would have liked to think about. The
devastation and loss was difficult to watch on all the news feeds. It made me
think about what was important to hang on to and what is not.
That last statement directly links to the fact that I came
here to deliver a load of Tina’s possessions that have lived with me for the 10
years she has been married. I am downsizing after caring for my mother, selling
her home, and moving back to my smaller house in Baytown , Texas Beaumont to use as a
sewing studio. I met some interesting people and made some friends, one of whom
would remain a private client for a few years
It was time to move on with my stuff and bring Tina hers.
Along with the lists of items I have already cleared out, I
was telling Tina I may play my trumpet one last time for church and sell it. I
have even considered packing up my dishes that could serve 24 people at a sit
down dinner with a five course meal. I may give the whole lot to the resale
shop that supports a battered women’s shelter. It would stock at least six
houses, if not more. Besides dinner plates, salad plates, soup bowls, steak
plates, serving pieces and canisters - the set has custard cups, coffee cups,
matching glasses and glass coffee cups, fruit bowls, chocolate pots and Swish
chocolate mugs, soup tureens… awe heck, I would have to take inventory to get
it all correct. When I had the kitchen remodeled I told the carpenter the
shelving needed to be sturdy enough to hold a Sherman tank. He was puzzled until I told him
to pick up a stack of only 12 plates. Then he saw the boxes of dishes waiting.
But I veer from the subject. Oh, wait, you’re used to seeing
that happen on this blog. So maybe I will continue to digress.
Back to the downsizing and moving on… I mentioned to Tina I
may give up the set of dishes and get something new and lighter in weight. Maybe
paper plates from now on??? Just kidding. Since I have had the dishes since
before she was born (and she is now 35) she laughed and said she wanted to
actually watch that happen. Hey, it could. It will just be tough, like removing
part of my history. And the fact remains that they were all used many times over.
Every piece symbolizes an event and triggers a recollection of family, children,
and festive times.
I have also admitted to my true downfall being books.
Something about my days haunting the old Gates Memorial Library of Port Arthur,
Texas prevents me from giving up a single work. Now that my daughter has the
writing bug, I see the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. There are books
everywhere. In a day and age where a single piece of electronic equipment can
hold volumes of writings, she has the desire to possess and hold the real
thing. Books are stuffed everywhere. Tina and Ryan just bought shelves a short
while back. They proved to be inadequate immediately. Books are in nightstands,
the office, and gosh knows where else she can stuff them.
While observing the books, and thinking about my own
collection, one book in particular caught my eye. She has a book standing with
the cover facing out, not inserted between other books standing in the ranks.
It is a book about Audrey Hepburn. Again, the apple didn’t fall far from the
tree.
Back when Tina was in college, she used to tease me about
the old movies, my love of elevator music, and my attraction to all things
“old.” I decided to introduce her to Audrey Hepburn because, like Audrey, Tina
was a dancer and had the form, elegance and balance Hepburn radiated. The first
movie I purchased for her was Breakfast At Tiffany’s. After crying over the
ending, Tina was hooked. Then she followed in my footsteps on Doris Day and
Marilyn Monroe. She continued to find her interest in old films and shared
those with her husband’s grandfather, Leonard, another avid ‘old-reeler’ if you
get my drift. The two were generations apart, but in tune on the same wave link
from a bygone era. I can easily conjure up a mental image of the two of them
laughing or singing along with the movie characters who graced another time in
our culture. Now that Len has left our earth, she will have those memories to
enjoy forever. For that, I am glad she holds on to books and developed an
appreciation of an art form she once considered out-dated.
Put her hair up, put a hat on her head and watch her walk.
She is imbued with all things Audrey.
