A Walk Down Memory Lane

Last Friday I took a little stroll down memory lane.  My Mom has been in an assisted living facility for a few months and my Dad is going to move in with my sister and brother-in-law. So....I headed up to Green Bay to go through my mother's closet and dresser prior to his move, since space at my sister's and at the assisted living facility is at a premium. 

To put it nicely, my mother has always been a "saver", which I think came from her years living through the Depression and World War II.  But, it was fun to go through all of the clothes and jewelry I remembered her wearing over the years.  She still had her wedding dress from 67 years ago (which we kept), but she also had the dresses she wore to my wedding and my older sister's wedding - 37 and 39 years ago respectively.

Seeing certain pieces of jewelry brought back memories of when I was a little girl and watching her get "dressed up" to out for the evening. My Dad and I spent hours going through the little jewelry boxes, remembering when she got a certain piece, when she wore it, and laughing about things that happened so many, many years ago. We also came upon other "treasures" that she has kept over the years.....her registered nursing licenses from Wisconsin as well as Texas where they lived over 60 years ago, her starched nursing caps nestled neatly in a plastic bag in the bottom of a dresser drawer (ah yes...I remember her starching and folding those caps every week when I was small). There was a picture of her father (my grandfather) which brought back all kinds of memories of him and my grandmother, and the note I wrote her and my Dad after my wedding thanking them for the wonderful party they gave us and for everything they'd done for me up to that point in my life. 

There were other things that we found that were a bit puzzeling though.  A very old, formal photo of a woman that neither my Dad or I had ever seen before.  There was no name on the back which was unusual since my Mom always wrote the name and year on the back of pictures. Was it a picture of her mother, her grandmother, a friend?  But, I think the most intriguing thing we found was a large solitaire diamond ring and wedding band tucked away in the back corner of her dresser.  My Dad said he had no idea where it came from and that he had never seen it before.....so, we have a mystery on our hands - does he just not remember buying and giving it to her at some point during their years together, was it her mother's and she got it when she passed away?  Or, was it something she received way back when before she met my Dad? Hmmmmm.....the possibilities could lead to an interesting romantic mystery novel. My Dad was going to see if he could get answers to all of our questions when he went to see her on Saturday. I'm not too hopeful that we'll find out, because along with being 92 years of age comes memory loss - and, as my mother has always had...selective memory.

All in all, it was a good day on Friday - just spending time with my Dad and reliving some of the happy times of when I was one of his "little girls". Who could ask for anything more?