I’ve received a lot of gifts during my days on this earth, and there are quite a few that I hold close to my heart. But there are always going to be a few little insignificant things that others would think are entirely worthless but hold a very special value due to the circumstances surrounding it. I’m writing this blog post specifically for the Quilting Bee May Event: The Bee*Mee Derby, but as I spent a little while going through my trinket box, I found something that I had almost completely forgotten about. I’ll explain this particular gift in its entirety below.
As I’ve stated before I have received a lot of gifts from many people, ones that are small but extremely important to me I keep in a trinket box that I hide in my closet, almost like my own personal treasure chest of valuables that I am hiding from the world. There are several things that I keep hidden inside of it. So I decided to share my entire trinket box with all of you and I’ll explain the story behind one of my most precious possessions.
The first image is of my Trinket Box itself. It isn’t anything particularly special, but my Mother bought it for me back when I was in Jr. High as a present, if I remember correctly it cost somewhere around $5 at the time, but I always loved it. My mother knew about my passion for Japan and Asian-inspired art, so the box itself was quite a treat. Before we moved into the condo I kept it beside my jewelry box on top of my chest of drawers or I would set it on my desk. It really adds a bit of pop to wherever I happen to put it.
The second image is a collection of some of the things inside of it. The glasses are actually my first ever pair that I ever owned, I still remember when Daddy took me to the optometrist and I was incredibly bummed over the fact that I had to wear glasses. My Dad helped me look over all of the pairs on the racks and when I finally found those, he told me that the oak leaf filigree on them stood for beauty. His jest made me feel so much better about being four-eyed!
The other items in the picture are a postcard from one of my friends out in Texas who I actually met at Anime Weekend Atlanta. I always kept the card because I thought it was super sweet! My “name passes” that I got at Disney’s Epcot, a Darwin Shark decal that William gave me as my first present (Can you guess his religious affiliation? And finally an old whetstone that belonged to my Grandpapa Hannah. I never knew him and it is the only thing that I own that ever belonged to him. Apparently he was a bit of a pill (ex Army Drill Sgt.) but he was a hard worker and took care of everybody.
The Second picture contains a silk purse that my Stepmother bought for me to match a Chinese style dress she bought me for my prom. My Big leather Journal that is specifically for leaving notes, drawings, and words of wisdom for my future children. That weird brown thing that is hard to see is a wooden dragon that my best friend Nina bought for me from a Chinese restaurant YEARS ago!
The Lunar 2 disks were from an online friend from my days back on Eden Enchanted. We both were complete and total nuts for the Lunar series and when my games got scratched to crap she burned me a copy and sent them to me all the way from England! I’ll never forget my sweet Meggie! Finally the last item in that picture is an ornament of sorts that says “Yoda” on it. Yoda was a stray kitten that we took in but somehow managed to break his back and we had to put him down. The people at the Vet’s office made the ornament by pressing his paws into some clay. I always thought it was a bit morbid to put on a Christmas tree, but I couldn’t throw it away nonetheless. Poor little Yoda.
The second to last picture has lots of little items: A sweatband from my Ex-Boyfriend Randy, A glass drip from my friend’s glass blowing shop, a cute and adorable bead with a white rose, my Final Fantasy VII Shin-Ra lighter, among other little odds and ends that don’t really mean much of anything but I don’t want to lose them regardless.
The very last image is my biggest treasure. It is just a simple plastic bracelet with little seashells on it that my mother’s best friend’s mother (confusing no?) gave to me. Mama Lou (my nickname for her) was a very sweet lady who I got to see once or twice a year when I was growing up. She was a kind old lady who lived next to the Royston graveyard. I remember how Momma used to go over their every summer and get fresh figs, and on Halloween she would always have a king size candy bar for me and my brother Robbie.
Little did I know that Mama Lou had cancer. When I was about 6 we were over visiting and she and Susanne were going through old odds and ends (figuring out where things were to go after she passed), and I started playing in the boxes. For whatever reason the bracelet caught my eye. It had belonged to Mama Lou when she was younger and she had taken care of it (never worn it, just kept it in her trinket box), and she told me I could have it. I took the bracelet home and stuck it in my trinket box and forgot about it. Mama Lou died about three months later.
Then last summer when I was moving some of my stuff I found the bracelet again. I started thinking about Mama Lou and how sweet she had been to me, and the next time I saw her daughter I showed her the bracelet and she burst into tears. It turned out that her father had given the bracelet to her mother as a gift when they had first begun dating. I had never realized that the bracelet was that old! When I attempted to give it back Susanne told me that I should keep it so I did. We spent hours talking about her mother (which she hadn’t done for so very-very long) and bonded over the better part of the evening.
I always thought it was funny that I had the worst case of losing things all my life, but for 18 years I managed to keep ahold of a tiny plastic bracelet. It is precious to me beyond words not only for the history behind it, but also because it brought me closer to my “Auntie S”. You just can’t put a price on friendship and love.
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Aw! That is so sweet. It is funny how we manage to keep a hold of the items that are precious to us.
Totally! It works the exact same with memories. There was one time I was at the zoo with my grandma, and I don’t remember the time of year, and I don’t remember which zoo we were even at, but I do remember sitting on a bench under a tree and we were both eating the same flavor of icecream (chocolate!). It is the important things that stick with you! :floatheart: