Memories Are Made of This: May 2012

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Rings of Fire

This past weekend many people were fortunate to view the solar eclipse dubbed the Ring of Fire. My husband's co-worker was in CA and took a great picture of this event and sent it to him. Many pictures have appeared on TV and the internet. There were so many pictures of this ring of fire that actually looked just like an engagement ring or a wedding ring. It is amazing that this eclipse could produce such beautiful pictures. I found a picture of the eclipse that appears to be heart shaped. I imagine someone may have photoshopped this picture, but I love it just the same! It certainly spoke to me as significant and beautiful at that moment.
When you read or hear accounts of this, people talking about it sound so happy and excited. Many of them said it was "beautiful," "unique," "superb." It is exciting just hearing about the affect it had on so many people.

Our family experienced a similar happy event this weekend. Our daughter called us to say she was engaged to the love of her life. Our family couldn't be happier and we view this as a beautiful, unique and superb union of two people who are most suited for each other. Young love is infectious and our family felt this as soon as we heard. We have had a rough year and were certainly feeling the need for something wonderful like this to happen.

Eric presented Madeline with a beautiful "ring of fire!" Engagement rings are symbols of the love, devotion, and fidelity the couple shares. The history of engagement rings dates back to 1477. It is hard to imagine how many men have presented one of these symbolic rings to his beloved future bride.
Engagement rings are ultimately circles of metal, and the circle is a part of very sacred, symbolic geometry. Circles have no beginning and no end and thus represent eternity, renewal, wholeness, and perfection. They are also symbolic of the sun, moon, and planets, bringing together all life just as an engagement ring brings together the lives of two people.

Someone once told me that there is no such thing as consequence. Things happen for a reason and as part of a plan. How lovely that God chose to present two such amazing events on the same weekend......a heavenly solar eclipse and a union made in heaven.

The ring that Madeline is wearing now that marks her as an engaged woman is a ring that was given to her on her 21st birthday by Mom. We were shocked and surprised by this generous gift, but Mom felt like her only granddaughter would be the perfect recipient for this ring. Mom didn't wear it any more, and like many of us as we grow older, our jewelry and possessions give us more joy by giving them away than by hanging onto them. Of course Madeline was delighted and surprised! Mom told her that she understood that her choice of a husband was hers and hers alone, but that she hoped it would be Eric who gave the ring to her! I am so happy that Mom got her wish.

Madeline put the ring on and stared at it many times during the next few weeks and she showed it to Eric. She told Eric all about the ring and how it meant so much to her that her grandmother wanted her to have it. Since he is just as sentimental as the rest of us, he totally "got it!" We all agreed then that it needed to go in the safety deposit box to be forgotten about until the right time. So, that is what we did and except for the few times I had to go to the bank and get something from my safety deposit box, I did sort of forget about the ring.

Eric called Jim and me to see if we were going to be available on a Saturday....he was coming to Clearwater for a visit and he wanted to come see us and 'talk to us.' Somehow I guess I was on the same page as Eric and even though none of us actually spoke the words, I think we just knew what he was coming to talk to us about.
On Friday before our meeting with Eric I decided to go get the ring out of the safety deposit box.....just in case. I am so glad I had the foresight to do that. Eric was thrilled when Jim and I gave him not only our blessings but also this precious, sentimental, symbolic ring to give to Madeline. I knew that it was what everyone wanted and I knew it symbolized happiness.

Mom comes by her generosity naturally. Her older sister, Jessie, set the precedence for caring for your family, looking after them, and just being kind and generous towards them. Many of my prized possessions have come from Jessie, her home or from Mom or her home. I love this about our family. We view our possessions as treasures and sentiments and we all love to share them. It is nice to pass down these family heirlooms. That is how our heritage is shared and discussed and understood. Each time I get something from Mom or her home, I want to know the story behind it. It is a great source of 'history in the making.' It is one way of understanding our ancestry. So many of these items hold a wealth of information and sentiment. Giving and receiving of these heirlooms is priceless and it is so much more joyous than going into a store and simply buying something.

Mom and I talked about Madeline's engagement ring. The best we can figure it is probably over 60 years old. Jessie's husband gave it to her after they had been married for a while. Jessie wore it as a symbol of her love and life with her husband. Just recently, Mom told me how and when Jessie had given it to her.
Jessie's husband died when I was about 10 years old. We were all sad, as he was such a dynamic man and his earthly presence was certainly missed when he passed away. Jessie stayed with us for a while after her husband's death. She shared my room during this time, and I am sure it is one reason Jessie and I became so close. Mom told me that she could still remember and picture when Jessie gave this ring to her. Mom says they were sitting on my sister's bed and in their grief, Jessie took the ring off and gave it to Mom. She told her she wanted her to have it, and Mom's protests were in vain. I guess Jessie figured that since she had lost her husband, the ring didn't mean as much to her as it would to Mom who was in the midst of a very happy marriage to my Dad.
I love it that both Mom and Jessie wore this ring as a symbol of their love for their husbands. And now Madeline will get to wear it with the same sentiment.

Madeline has been a bit of a romantic all her life. When she was little she loved to play dress up and pretend (or prend, as she called it). Sometimes the pretended she had a sister and sometimes she pretended she was a bride! I always loved the get-up she would put together to represent whatever she felt like pretending to be on a particular day. Madeline has never left me feeling any sort or boredom or dullness in my life. Her antics are most entertaining.

Madeline's favorite movie is "The Notebook." She owns the DVD and I imagine she has watched it from start to finish over 20 times. She could practically quote this whole movie, yet she gets teary eyed whenever she watches it. Yes, she is a romantic.
One of Madeline's other favorite movies is "Romeo and Juliet." Enough said.

I always tell people Madeline and I have been planning her wedding since she was three! I am sure that is a bit of an exaggeration, but she has always loved to hear stories about weddings, love, and life. For many years we have talked about her wedding. I guess some girls always dream about that and I look forward to helping my little girl's dream come true.

I can't tease Madeline too much. I am pretty much a sappy romantic myself. I have melted and fallen in love with my husband more than once. One of the most magical moments was at our rehearsal dinner the night before our wedding. After dinner, during the toasts, Jim had me stand up as he took my hand and formally proposed to me in front of everyone. He slipped an engagement ring on my finger. He had bought it and surprised me. I didn't originally want an engagement ring because I was being practical about money and our future. Believe me, the romantic in me loved this whole thing. I was certainly glad he decided to toss practicality aside. It was definitely one of those moments when I melted and fell in love again.
There is a lot of truth in the symbolism of the sacred and symbolic geometry of the circle that is an engagement ring and its representation of renewal and perfection. There was nothing more perfect than that night.

The wedding band that I have worn for almost 36 years was the ring my Dad put on my Mom's finger on their wedding day. When Jim and I were engaged, Mom told us she would like for us to have her ring. It is a perfectly beautiful platinum ring encircled with diamonds. Mom was now wearing the ring Jessie had given her and she had a wedding band made to go with that ring.
I guess in our family, these rings are truly circles of life and love.

These rings are not exactly the items from Mom's house that I have been writing about, but they are still family heirlooms and their stories have so much to tell about our lives and our loves.
And memories are made of this.

Ring of Fire
Solar Eclipse 2012

Love is in the sky!

The Engagement Ring

It's official

She said YES!

Madeline pretending to be a bride!

Daddy and Me

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Collections, Curios and Cats

For as long as I can remember, I have collected things. One of my first collections was cats.....small cats, medium sized cats, large cats, fuzzy cats, porcelain cats, ceramic cats, wooden cats, concrete cats, stuffed cats, cat ornaments, cat clothing, pictures of cats, real cats.....you name it. Madeline likes to call me The Crazy Cat Lady. I suppose she hit that one right on the mark!

Anything cat-like makes me smile. I am a cat lover in every way. One of my favorite parts of my cat collection when I was young was little ceramic cats that I often bought in gift shops when we traveled. Daddy always gave us "spending money," (really, isn't most money SPENDING money?) to use on our vacation. I was drawn to these cute little cats. I had them displayed in my room. George Newman made the coolest shelves for my cat collection. They were wooden boards that we painted PINK (of course) and they were joined together by ropes. We called them hanging shelves and they really were unique and fun. I wish I had a picture of them. Hopefully a picture will turn up somewhere sometime. Anyway, I had all my little cats proudly displayed on these shelves. Below them was a chest (pink) that I used to store all my stuffed cats in and on top of. It was truly the room of a cat lover! I know that once I went off to college Mom had my cat collection all packed up in a box for safety. Eventually she gave it to Madeline and I know it is around this house somewhere. I'd love to find it and go through it. I'm sure each little cat would bring back a memory. I remember one that was a natural piece of oddly shaped wood that had three little blue-eyed Siamese cats glued to it. I think that was always my favorite piece in the collection......that or the little cat with a real gold chain around his neck and hanging like a leash. (A cat on a leash is a real oxymoron in my mind.)

My Aunt Myrtle lived in The Methodist Home in Charlotte when she got older. She took ceramic classes there. I have a few cats she made for me in her classes and they are cherished additions to my collection. They are larger than the little cats I bought in the gift shops. They looked so stately and elegant amongst the smaller cats.

I am pretty sure that the stuffed cats and fuzzy cats are long gone, but my memory of them will never be! There was one little fuzzy white cat that I carried with me everywhere. I slept with him and loved him like he was a real pet. Madeline loves the stories I have told her about this cat....in particular the one in which I explained that I rubbed his little fuzzy head so much, it wore away and became very small. It really made him quite funny looking, but I loved him all the same!
One time I was playing out in the backyard and it was cold and icy from a previous snowstorm. I was all bundled up and couldn't move very well, but I still managed to carry my funny little furry cat with me! I slipped and slid into the creek. I was really scared and couldn't get out. I remember our neighbor, Terry Tillman, saw me and ran over and got me out. I was never so glad to see someone as I was her! I will forever be indebted to her. The worst part of that incident, once I was safely back in my yard, was the little cat who fell in the cold, dirty water when I slipped in. I remember either Mom or Martha (or both) going back to the scene of the incident with me and found my cat and got it out. When I saw how nasty and muddy and awful the cat was, I cried and threw it back in. I was devastated. They rescued the cat again and took it inside and tried to clean and dry it. I guess I eventually accepted the cat back, but in the meantime I will never forget the surprise I found on my bed one day.....a pink basket with not one, but three, little fuzzy cats in it! They were all different colors with little bows tied around their necks. I guess Mom and Dad had gone out and bought that for me trying to give me some sort of comfort. I played with those three kitties and petted them until they, too, had small flat heads!

It's no wonder that "Cats" is my favorite Broadway show. I have seen more shows than I can recall, many of them several times. I think I lost count at 9 for "Cats!" I love the show...everything about it. The cats and their movements in their costumes fascinate me. I love the music and the set. I love the comedy and the drama of it all. I am a big Andrew Lloyd Weber fan and I am also a T.S. Eliot fan. I have a copy of Eliot's "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats." It is the book that inspired the musical. Carol Rose was my first 'victim' of accompanying me to see the show. We were in New York, and went to see the matinee on a whim. I was hooked as soon as we sat down in our seats! Jim, Mom, Madeline and some other friends have been 'victims' at other times. I am not sure anyone, except maybe Madeline, loves the show like I do. Perhaps you have to be a crazy cat lady to totally appreciate it!

In my lifetime I have collected Dreamsicles, dolls, Precious Moments figurines, Willow Trees, seashells, Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls, Pandora jewlery, minature boxes, coffee mugs, Christmas ornaments, angels, Playbills, ticket stubs, and many other things. I doubt anything will ever top my cat collection. In fact, anyone walking through my house today will find some sort of cat figurine, picture, or pillow in almost every room (and of course, my ever present Leo and Peabo!). I just can't seem to let it go.

On Dec. 25, 1991, Mom started a collection for Madeline. Fortunately for me, this collection has "lived" in my house, but I feel the day coming before too long when Madeline will take her collection to her own home. Her collection is antique perfume bottles. They are so beautiful. I enjoy looking at them every day. I have the letter that Mom gave Madeline with her first 2 perfume bottles she received for Christmas that year....she was 2 years old! I keep the letter in the little drawer in the curio cabinet that houses most of her bottles. It says: "Sweetie Pie, Gramma is starting a collection of antique and unusual perfume bottles for you. You may keep them in a "safe" place until you have your own place where you can display them. Here is one for your first and second year. Hope I can find a special one each year. I love you--Gramma." Not only did Mom find a special one for each year, she found many more than that! We haven't gotten any new ones to add to the collection for awhile, but I feel like it is something I will always want to look for when I visit an antique shop. And for now, the bottles are In a 'safe' place.
The first time Mom and Martha came to visit me after I moved to Florida we decided to go to St. Pete and tour the Dali Museum, have lunch and sightsee. We passed the Museum of Fine Arts and noticed a banner that said they had a display of Scent Bottles Through the Centuries. If was from a collection of Joan Hermanowski. We couldn't help but go see the display. I remember how breathtaking some of the bottles were and how interesting their history was. Mom enjoyed this exhibit as much as I can ever remember her enjoying anything! I still have the booklet we received when we toured this exhibit. I actually came across it at Mom's hosue when I was packing her up to move to Florida. In the booklet, there are pictures of some of the bottles with a description and their histories. Madeline's collection has several bottles that are similar to the ones in the booklet. It's nice to know the time period they might have come from and the use that they had. I keep that booklet in the drawer with Grandma's letter to Madeline about the bottles.

For years we had the perfume bottles here and there, but we never had a great place to display them all. As the collection grew, it became very frustrating. One day I was playing bridge at my friend Dee's home. She and her husband are antique dealers and she knows how much I love antiques. When I walked in her house, I saw this unusual curio cabinet in the living room. I knew it hadn't been there before. I immediately started admiring it and saying how it would be perfect for the perfume bottle collection. A lot of people didn't know about the collection since it has never been displayed in a great place for people to see and enjoy. Dee told me they were going to "fix up" the cabinet a bit, such as mending a broken leg and replacing the light inside it. She also told me it was for sale. I told her I would buy it right then and there! Nevermind that I didn't know where I was going to put it or how much it was going to cost. Of course Dee gave me a great deal and when she and her husband delivered it to my home, I immediately found the perfect place for it. It only meant changing around a couple of pictures and knickknacks. It is so beautiful and is now a conversation piece for anyone visiting. I love the history and stories behind the piece of furniture and each perfume bottle inside it. (And of course there is one bottle with cats on it!)
To date, Madeline has 36 bottles in a curio cabinet and 21 minature bottles which are on a little shelf in her bathroom. Mom had a few of Madeline's bottles living at her house as well, so when we packed Mom's stuff up to move, we labeled the box of perfume bottles "for Madeline." Who knows....we may need to buy another cabinet for the minature bottles and the hopefully growing collection.

Thinking of collections, cats and curio cabinets, I can't help but muse over the phrase "curiosity killed the cat." I also believe the myth that cats must really have 9 lives since their curiostiy so often seems to get the best of them. The proverb "curiosity killed the cat" is used to warn of the dangers of unnecessary investigation or experimentation. Research showed me that a less frequently seen rejoinder to "curiosity killed the cat" is "but satifaction brought it back." I am definitely a believer in that rejoinder and I think I must have to start adding that to the phrase as I use it.

I have had a few real live cats in my life, starting with my red Tabby cat Tiger, or more affectionately called Dinkle. We got this cat when I was 8 years old when we first moved to Ridgeview Drive. He was killed right before I went off to college, so I really enjoyed growing up with Dinkle. Although Martha's friend across the street, Karen Hege, had the mother cat and the litter of kittens from which we chose Dinkle, I think he became more my cat that Martha's. She loved him too, but the last 4 years of his life she was away in college and the 4 years before that she was a busy high-schooler. So, I really had Dinkle to myself a lot. I remember coming home from school so anxious to see him that Mom would let me sneak him up to my room (he was an outdoor cat) with the exception that I would put him out before Daddy got home! Moms are good about those sneaky kinds of things sometimes.

I now have Leo and Peabo. Between Dinkle and Leo, I had Minnie and Oscar. I also had a few dogs along the way. Peabo is a precious and sweet cat, also a red Tabby (as was Oscar and so is Leo). Peabo is 16 and 1/2 years old. His hearing is bad and he's pretty lazy. He sleeps a lot, but he proves he has a bit of spunk when one year old Leo annoys him. He can pounce and hiss with the best of them!
Leo is my newest cat....a rescue cat and a birthday surprise last year. I love him very much. I think he came at a time in my life when I needed something new to love. Funny thing is, Jim loves him as much as I do. Leo has truly become a part of our family. And I surely hope he has nine lives, because curiosity is bound to kill him....that is, unless satisfaction brings him back!

Leo has been in and on every possible place in this house. I don't mind him sleeping on a chair or an occassional foot of the bed, but not on the dining room table, the countertops or anywhere else like that. We have a trusty spray bottle of water that we use on him when we find him in or on an undesireable spot. Sometimes he is just so darn cute it's hard to spray him, but he always knows he is being "bad" when we yell his name. He quickly jumps off.

So far Leo hasn't gotten into the curio cabinet that houses the perfume bottle collection. I suppose it is because the door is always shut. I have noticed him admiring all those beautiful bottles, however, when the light is on inside the cabinet.
Keeping Leo out of this cabinet might be one of my biggest challenges. So far in his short life he has been inside my bathroom cabinet, my closet, the dryer, the linen closet, on top of the computer printer, the shelves in the laundry room, kitchen cabinets, any open suitcase, shopping bag, or purse....you name it!

As the wise Dr. Seuss wrote: "Young cat, if you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you would learn! The most wonderful stuff!" I am pretty sure Leo and Peabo adhere to this advice.

I guess without curious cats or curio cabinets full of interesting collections, life could be pretty dull. The stories that develop from those things are endless.....and memories are made of this.