Memories in a Box

When I was a little girl I loved to go to my Grandma's house.  She had a jewelry box full of costume jewelry that she let me play with to my heart's content.  I would go back to her bedroom and put the jewelry box on her big bed.  I'd drape myself in her jewels all afternoon.  She had long necklace strands with funky beads, tons of bangle bracelets, brooches, and clip-on earrings, essential for my very young and at that time un-pierced ears.  I have many memories of these adventures.  And I don't remember this, but one story goes that, as a tiny tot, I once placed all of my Grandma's necklaces on at one time and somehow fell over, calling out in my little voice, "Help!  Help!" because I could not get back up.

My Grandma passed away about two and a half years ago.  This past week, my Mom gave me her jewelry box with her costume jewelry in it.  Oh heaven!  Now, I was a little sad because it wasn't the same box, and much of the jewelry I played with wasn't there anymore.  I had had visions of opening my Grandma's white jewelry box to find all the fun beaded strands I had played with in the late 70s and early 80s.  I guess Grandma got some new stuff since then.  The new box is dark-stained wood.  But happily, a few of the pieces I remember playing with were still there and some other items I remember seeing her wear, even if I didn't play with them.  It was magical to watch my girls' faces light up as they explored this treasure trove.  

They both loved to see themselves all decked out.  Lass repeatedly said, "I go wook in miweh (look in mirror)" and "Sissy, wook miweh too, huh?  Come on!"

They were princesses in their finery. Then Miss decided they needed to be "scullery maids" (we had been watching Snow White).  So she changed into her "raggy jewelry" for cleaning house and she and Lass went to town.

Oops.

Anybody remember these?

Those old Fisher Price toys were the other thing I used to play with at my Grandma's house.  The "Mommy" with the blue body and yellow hair was a toy I used to love to carry around with me all the time.  Sort of like how my middle child has to carry around her "Wedda" (Cinderella) doll at all times and always in her left hand (check the photos above, she's always there).  My girls weren't into the little people like they were the jewelry.  Miss said, "Oh, cool people!" and then went back to playing with her princesses.  Oh well.

We're home now, trying to get back into the swing of things after yet another week of travel.  We've been on the road a lot the past few weeks to be with family.  I am thinking about my grandmas, and my husband's grandma, and my girls' grandmas.  Grandmas are just special.  I have always loved and appreciated my grandmas, but I find myself cherishing them more now that I have children.  I wish my girls would know my grandparents the way I did.  I know I can't make that happen (though I try with visits as much as possible), but that makes it all the more important to me that they will have wonderful special relationships with their grandparents.  So we travel.  We get sleep deprived from driving late into the night and sleeping in cramped quarters.  We rack up the miles on my vehicle. We get flat tires that my poor husband has to change at 11:00 at night.  But you'd better believe my girls will have amazing memories. Someday they might have a special item that brings those memories flooding back, like the box of my Grandma's jewelry.  Definitely, they will know the specialness of their grandparents. And that makes it all so worth it.