Another amazing gift … and it goes full cycle !
On my last trip North I visited with my sister Peg who is in a nice nursing center on Cape Cod. In the evenings her husband and I had time to do some reminiscing and he happened to mention the HUGE collection of shells that he had stored in the basement.
The shells were ones that my mother had collected over the years and most were labeled with the name of the shell and the place and date that it came from ! He said he hated to get rid of them but that his family had taken their favorites and they were just taking up room and would I be interested in them?
I have a dear friend here in North Carolina who does amazing things with shells and I decided to bring them home to her. I did just that but only after I took some for myself and my three children did the same.
Now, fast forward to the present … and a wonderful “present” it was when my friend gave me these adorable hanging ornaments that she made using two of the shells. She chose ones that had been labeled by my mother and it is so special to see her handwriting.
When I sent this picture to my brother-in-law (who gave me the shells) he emailed back that he’d love one to give to his wife in the nursing home. “She will love it”, he said and I know that she will. I can just see it hanging on the bulletin board in her room and it will be a wonderful remembrance of our mother and her love of collecting.
Just another example of the joys of recycling.
posted by Ginnie at 1:38 PM
9 Comments:
That's sweet.
Your mother was good with her identification. What a great gift! Hope that you had a wonderful Christmas!
Awwwww. How nice! I love it when I come across something with my Aunt's writing on it... often a gift card I just could not throw out and so is still in a box with wrapping paper and new gift labels. I can feel her love in that writing. So I know how special seeing your mother's writing on that shell was for you. What a treasure.
Just love it. Too often those things are discarded. What a great use.
It's funny, but I live by the sea in an area famous for oysters, and yet it's rare to find any kind of shell on the shore.
A wonderful and hopeful story and a great reward. I can see those beauties hanging on a Christmas tree. Dianne
This is not just a gift, Ginnie, but a sweet remembrance that can now be shared by your and your sister. The best gift is one that holds memories.
I have a shell (and rock) collection, and a few of them have labels. I hope that someday, some of my collection will be used in the same way! What a lovely way to recycle.
As usual your stories make me smile and almost cry. A happy cry, for I used to make these for my late Pa. He had about 6 boxes of shells that I collected over my child hood years, happy times.
Post a Comment
<< Home