Lifetime in a Box

I saw a post on Facebook a few weeks ago that said one day your children will want to see you in their old pictures, so make sure to be in them and not just be be the one taking them.  It made sense but I didn’t really think too much about it until yesterday.  School vacations are a great chance to clean some messy areas in my house.  The places where things get tossed to make the actual living spaces look better, because there isn’t enough time to keep everything perfect and work. So, in that messy back room, as I was looking for the Easter Basket prizes, I stumbled upon another big box of old pictures from my mom’s house. Try as I might, there were not many pictures of my mom.  So, I guess the post on Facebook was true because I want pictures of my mom. However, she was always taking them. I want pictures to remember her the way she was before Alzheimer’s.  I want pictures of the two of us. I want pictures of "Ma" with her grandchildren. Each picture of her brings back the memories of my mom as she used to be. There were hundreds of pictures but there weren't many of my mom. However, I did find one of her and her yellow bowl!

My mom in her kitchen making something great!

This picture was taken in our tiny kitchen, in our tiny house, in Baldwinville. I’m not sure what she’s making in that yellow bowl but I am sure whatever it was it was delicious! The picture was taken sometime in the early 70’s. The curtains are her own creation and in the colors she used on everything....her favorites. Oranges and browns were her choices for many projects she sewed. The house was tiny. It had a small eat in kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. There was no cellar and no attic. It did have an attached garage and a laundry room off the garage. No matter how small it was, it was a really great house because she put so much of herself into decorating it and she was always cooking something!!  It was through this picture I actually remembered the fact she sewed me a bedspread and a canopy cover for my big bed.  It made me remember the chocolate covered cherries she made before Thanksgiving and stored in the hall closet (lack of space in a tiny house) so they could then be ready for gift giving at Christmas. One picture can conjure up a million memories.  Memories that she now can't express and has forgotten.
Yesterday, I cleaned my cabinets, rearranging my dishes so I could put her bowls in a place where I could use them daily. Today I will make a cake for my youngest son's 30th birthday and I will use her bowls to mix the cake.  My mom can't be here for his birthday but I can at least put a little bit of her into the cake when I use her bowls.

Today I will take pictures of our family supper, as I always do, but I will be sure to ask someone to take a picture of me with the birthday boy! I hear there is a thing called 'selfies" now, so maybe they are valuable for something!  Get out and take pictures of you today!