Mother's Memories For My Daughter

 

        When we had lived in Kearns and Jaime was almost three, there was a sister in our ward who had given us a Mother and Daughter scrapbook that she said she had but never used – and yet she had three daughters. 

          I made it a project for the two of us to work on and allowed Jai to pick all the pictures for the album and I would write about whatever the page instructed.  I wrote most of it in cursive not realizing few schools would even teach cursive anymore.  As with shorthand, cursive seems to be an art of the past.

          I never had pretty handwriting.  It’s somewhere between elementary and chicken scratch.  It wasn’t until we had moved here and I was working on some updates that I decided to scan the scrapbook, change some of the pictures, and use a font which Jaime would be able to read.  I don’t know how many pages I created.  There are a few tacked to earlier posts such as the ones found here

          I had hoped that Jaime would share my sentiment in preserving our legacy.  She does not.  At least not at this time.  Perhaps when she is my age it will be more meaningful (that is if it doesn’t get lost in the sauce and forgotten)

          In addition I have 12 binders of journaling from what I believed was her point of view.  After we moved here I continued to create pages but hadn’t printed anything.  There are volumes that will take up less space on a thumb drive than on a shelf.

Collecting Pennies

           When I was younger my grandpa taught me the art of collecting pennies and collecting stamps.  My brother and I each had books to collect pennies made in different years at different mints.  My neighbors across the street were really into it and found pennies made during the war.  I still had several pennies when I married Richard.

          He attempted on getting the boys into penny collecting.  I remember donating a couple of rolls of pennies to his cause – though I didn’t see any value to them.  But the boys were floored.  I had pennies dating as early as 1972.  Wow.  The year my brother was born.  To me they really weren’t that old.  But they were over 15 years older than each of the boys – therefore they were “antiques”

          I think within a week the boys had lost interest and some time later he had tried again with his two oldest girls.   Frances did seem interested, but as we really didn’t see them a whole lot, that didn’t pan out either.  So now he’s trying again with Jaime who tries to show genuine interest but is really not.  Richard keeps offering suggestions on what to do with extra pennies that were minted before this decade.

          I told her perhaps we should just keep them all.  After all the penny making has ceased and one day all of the pennies will be more valuable than they are today.  It’s just a thought.

Mother and Daughter Growing

 

          I am so grateful that Jaime has always had it together moreso than I.  I have been so much happier living in Oregon than I was in Salt Lake.  I have grown more in the last eight years than my entire lifetime in Salt Lake.

          Jaime was apprehensive with starting at Coffenbury Middle School after the summer we moved here, but she loved it.  I think of all her schooling she was happiest at Coffenberry.  I don’t know that she would have endured that same love at Eisenhower Junior High – which is where she would have continued her education if we had stayed.  She has also loved the small town life overall.

          She hasn’t been exposed to many active youth – even in Salt Lake.  I know there are more active youth in our current ward than there had been in our last ward.  Currently she has a boyfriend.  They have talked about marriage and are planning on moving out of state – which has made her apprehensive.  She doesn’t wish to leave us but at the same time she needs to live her life.

          She said she will be moving to a state where he will be closer to his family.  She has two sisters who reside in the same state.  Of course I am aware that the state is larger than Oregon and chances of running into her sisters might be slim.  But there’s the possibility.  I hope that they do make a connection.

          I know she will get growth there living in a larger city.  There are some aspects which she has missed.  I hope she finds it.

          I do know Jai is more comfortable with herself than I had ever been.  I’m fine now, but it has taken so long.  We have been so blessed with her.  I’m certain her growth won’t take as long for her as it has for me.

Being Disconnected

     

          My balance has been off and so I try getting at least 20 minutes of Tai Chi each day. I didn't do any Tai Chi on Sunday as I was feeling under the weather.  I don’t know what time I fell asleep on Sunday night.  I do remember hearing Jai come home after midnight and then she left again.  I had two things on the charger and got up to check on their status and to text Jaime but noticed she had left a note by the TV.

          I have made several references to NOT having the best sleeping habits.  Yesterday morning was no exception.  I had tried returning to my slumber but just wasn’t getting there.  I read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and 10 chapters in the Little Christmas Book.  At 3:00 I finally left my room and played on my tablet for a while.

          I don’t remember what time I returned to bed or how long it took me to finally fall asleep.  I did not wake up until almost 8:00 a.m.  When was the last time I ever slept past 5:30?  I was dumbfounded that I had slept that long.  And yet, when I count the hours I still didn’t get enough.

          I was so groggy. Richard said that he wanted to take some watches down to Ashland but I knew that Jaime would be returning and wanted to be home for her.  I really wasn’t up to spending three hours in the car. Again, I was out of it.

          I did clean the microwave and the yard.  I unloaded the dishwasher and filled it back up again.  I heard the beeping of what sounded like the garbage truck – but the garbage doesn’t get picked up until tomorrow.  And early.  When Jaime was in school the garbage wasn’t collected until after she left for school.  The last two or three years they have been collecting long before the dawn.

          Turned out that a neighbor two houses down had rented a dumpster which the sanitation was either dropping off or collecting.  Okay.  Glad it was an outside sound that didn’t need my attention.

          But then I could hear the sound of a school bell being rung – you know like they had on the set of “Little House on the Prairie”.  Our school bells do not sound like that – nor are any of the schools close enough that I would be able to hear it.  What the heck?

          I finally had that one figured out also.  The sound was coming from the dishwasher.  One of the pans was clinging against the water.  Great.  I was so disoriented for about four hours.  I really don’t like being that out of it. 

Midvale House front room 1963

 

I don’t recall our living room ever looking this spacious before.  I don’t remember the chair but I do remember the ottoman.  I had it (or one similar) when I married Richard.  The original color was green but had torn and I had attempted to reupholster it in a printed flannel.  That didn’t last long.

I remember breaking the tinseled tree – I had been looking for tinsel and not an entire branch.  It was an accident.  I didn’t know.

I don’t remember the painting/print ever hung in the living room. I remember it being upon the wall in my parents room. Corey claimed it before mom had passed.  To the best of my knowledge he still has it (here)

And I remember rabbit ears (referring to the antennas on the TV).  That child on the floor?  That would be me over 60 years ago.

Tiny Food

          How fortunate that Richard and I have small appetites – yes, I finally caught up with him taking two bites of whatever meal and exclaiming, ”I’m full” and actually losing weight.

          We went to Winco to pick up some items – bread, milk, eggs . . . I didn’t realize that everything had shrunk. We’re used to getting eggs marked “large”.  These ones were medium and barely bigger than hummingbird eggs. 

        Every container I picked up was half the size that I have been used to.  What the flip?

          I feel bad for families who have several mouths to feed.  OMIHECK!!!

Perspective

 So there is a method to my madness with the last eight or so posts I have created.  A sister in our ward has challenged us to answer 52 questions (one a week) some of which I've already done through my blog.  But there are some I have come across that I just can't seem to find.  I really thought I had mentioned the following but am not finding.  

47. What is a moment when you surprised yourself — in a good way? I had been driving the Plymouth Duster and had my two youngest siblings in the car with me.  I think we must have been on the way to Grandma’s house.  I don’t know if the car just stopped or if I had stopped at a store on the way.  I can visualize the area – it was 900 south and vine street and I told the kids we would have to walk the rest of the way.  

As we were walking a grandpa-aged man had stopped by to offer us a ride.  I told him where were going and he said he was headed in that direction anyway.  By today’s standards there is no way I would be putting my siblings in the back of a strange man’s car – and yet that is exactly what I did and as I was putting them in had thought to myself ,“What am I doing?  I don’t know this man.” 

It turned out to be a good thing.  He really did take us to grandma’s condominium.  I thanked him and called for someone to assist me with my car.