My mom recently gave me this bowl that belonged to my grandmother Dixie Jarvis O’Dell. I enjoy the things I have that belonged to her – they are true family treasures to me. We were very connected, my grandmother and I.
And while she died when I was young (I think I was around 12) she is still very close to my heart. I learned many lessons from her including a few things to NOT do.
Thrifting Thursday and Family History
I remember being on the farm where she and my grandpa lived. She made meals for all of the farm hands.
I remember biscuits, homemade lemonade, green beans fresh from the garden, and lots of fried food.
I remember a lot of people around the kitchen table. They would come in, wash up, eat and then head back out in the fields.
I’m often told by people who can see these things that she is near me and watches over me.
I hope she knows that even though I could never in a million years make biscuits as good as hers I do have a table full of family most Sundays and I put LOVE into every meal I make. I hope my family treasures those times as much as I do.
I don’t use her bowl now as I’m afraid it might not hold up to too much use – it’s probably close to 100 years old – but it sits on my counter and holds some of my garden produce in season. I think of her every time I see it.
I love this story about your grandmother – thanks for sharing it with us.
I have a tea pot my grandmother used, my dad’s student desk, my grandmother’s school house clock that hung in our family home for more than 100 years (dated on the back, “1896” and with my granddad’s signature), several afghans made by my mom, and several pieces of furniture made by my dad, some with my help, some finished by my mom. I get the same feelings of love when I really see them. The clock reminds me of my family every half hour! It’s so interesting to me that young people today seem to have less appreciation for those family items that connect us to our families’ past. I so want to pass along these things I love, but don’t know who to give them to – who would cherish them as much as I do.