Memories – Page 18 – Valerie's Voice

Loaves & Fishes and Little Puppies

Our four "little puppies". Ross is the one in yellow. I have always loved this photo. — Our four “little puppies”. Ross is the one in yellow. I have always loved this photo.

The Bible story about the little boy bringing his lunch to Jesus and it being multiplied came to mind as I was thinking back on a very special friendship.

Thirty-three years ago I called an acquaintance from the church we attended at that time to see if I could bring her lunch since she just given birth to her firstborn son. My firstborn son was 10 months old at the time.

My inexperienced self brought over a tuna fish sandwich in a brown paper bag. But God took that lunch and multiplied it into a deep and lasting friendship. Thank you Lord!

Life went on and we each had another son…so we had four “little puppies” as my friend affectionately called our four boys. They played together for many years and then one sad day their family moved away. However, our friendship continued to grow from yearly trips together.

My friend’s oldest son, Ross, was diagnosed with a rare condition when he was 8 years old. He eventually was confined to a wheelchair. He was on a special trip to Scotland last month where he had respiratory failure and passed away. We attended the memorial service in Indiana this past weekend. Ross was a wonderful young man of God and a light for Jesus. He lived a full and faith-filled life.

Ross, you will be missed.

February 23, 1983 – December 6, 2016

The Cedar Chest

My cedar chest doubles as our entertainment center in our living room. The other day we took off the TV, soundboard and DVD player to get into the cedar chest. It’s been a long time since we’ve opened it up and usually when we do, it’s just to put something in it. I would get a whiff of the aromatic cedar but close it right away. This time I was deliberate to go through everything. I remembered the price tag was in it…my dad bought it for my mother in 1947 for a wedding present. This Lane Cedar Chest retailed for $54.95 in 1947. There is another piece of paper inside – an insurance policy…a Moth Insurance Policy good for three years… hmmm I wonder…do they still sell that type of insurance???

I also found my mother’s baptism gown and the gown my brother and I wore when we were baptized. There was my mother’s velvet brown hat and some long white gloves -over the elbow kind that I wore to prom. I found my Brownie uniform, my candy-stripe outfit and a red dress I sewed back in high school that I particularly loved.

I did not iron these special pieces before taking a photo. They went back into the cedar chest.

I found what I was looking for…an outfit for my grandson that was my son’s when he was a little boy – but I found a lot more children’s clothing and blankets. I didn’t remember saving them all. It was a delight to look at each one and remember. I kept them out and washed them up and will pass them on.

What a fun adventure opening up the cedar chest!

A portion of the clothing I had stored in the cedar chest.

Conversation Trails

Young Quinlan

I enjoy reflecting on the trail a conversation takes…where it begins and how it flows…A conversation this week took me down memory lane…

I was visiting with a woman at church and we were commenting on the unusually warm weather in Minnesota for this time of year, November. She mentioned she remembered the Armistice Day snowstorm on November 11, 1940. I asked her where she was that day and she said she was at Young-Quinlan Department store in downtown Minneapolis…she had caught the last streetcar home and she was grateful to get home safely that night.

I told her I have a memory from that store too. My aunt, who never had any children of her own, liked to take her nieces on special, one-on-one dates. This happened in the 60’s. She would often take us to the Young Quinlan store. Auntie Ag loved nice things and liked this specialty store – it was always special time. But what stands out most is the elevator (and my friend guessed that would be my memory.) There was an elevator operator who wore white gloves. She would open the elevator’s door and gate and let you on and off whatever floor you wanted. My aunt had no idea this would be my memory from our dates but they are sweet ones none-the-less.

The store went out of business in 1985 but I read online there is a Young-Quinlan store museum and it might be fun to go for a visit.

The building was designated as a local landmark by the Minneapolis Historic Preservation Commission in 1988 and is located on 9^th and Nicollet.

Click here to find out more.

Two Friends

My dad was a carpenter and built our house in a “brand new neighborhood” in Northeast Minneapolis in 1953, the year I was born. Everyone in the neighborhood was new to the area and many lifelong friendships were formed. My mother and Diane’s mother (my recycle birthday card friend) was one of them. I wrote this poem when Darlene died in 2013. My mom died in 2009.

Two Friends

Back in the Fifties

When life was pretty good

In Northeast Minneapolis

Up sprang a new neighborhood.

Children gathered daily

Going outside to play

Fathers off to work

Moms at home to stay.

Friendships were forming

Because everyone was new

Some lasting fifty years or more

Wow – who knew???

Two special families

Lived across the street

Two special women

Destined to meet.

Raising up their children

Having driveway coffee breaks

Always checking on each other

Vacationing to many lakes.

Their daughters grew up

Becoming lasting friends

Sharing McKinley Street stories

No more playing pretend.

Marriages, then grand-kids

Time kept marching on

But playing Bridge and having lunch

Kept their friendship strong.

Four years ago God took the first

And now He’s taken the other

But memories will linger on

Loving memories of our mothers.

September 2013

All Saint’s Day

Sunday’s sermon was about saints in the Bible that have gone before us, then we had an opportunity to light a candle for the saints and loved ones that have gone before us in our own lives. Pastor Abe reminded us that the saints were not perfect people and that the Bible is full of stories of imperfect people being used by God. He reminded us that God is faithful, he doesn’t give up, and he is in the business of redemption.

I lite a candle for both my parents and a very special aunt. Here is a poem I wrote about my mother shortly after she died in 2009. My father died in 1974 when I was 20 years old. I am saddened for the missed opportunity of getting to know him as an adult. I have not written a poem for my dad…maybe someday I will. He was a kind man. ruby

Ruby Red

Red was her color

Ruby was her name

Never much recognition

Never much fame.

But she was a faithful mother,

A grandmother, a friend

Loved and cared by many

Generous to the end.

She surrounded herself with beauty

Both natural and man made

She had a green thumb for growing,

An eye for things that stayed.

From the house on McKinley

To the apartment at Meadowbrook

She kept her place beautiful

It was always fun to look.

Her fun sense of adventure

Took her on many fine trips

And hours of playing bridge

Kept her mind sharp and crisp.

Being with family and friends

Made her most content

She found joy in remembering

Those times were well spent.

So here’s to Ruby

Whose color was red

God blessed her life to 86

An active life she led.

March 2009

A Very Special Birthday Card

envelope-clipart-cliparti1_envelope-clip-art_05 I sent a card off in the mail this week. I went to the post office to get it stamped and the clerk warned me it would cost extra because it was so thick. I responded it’s OK, I expected that. Then I told him it is a birthday card that I send to my childhood friend and we’ve been sending it back and forth to each other since 1979. That’s 37 years! It began during the push for recycling and the card suggested we save it and send it back to the recipient on her birthday the following year. So we did. We keep adding cardstock for room to write our birthday greetings, thus its thickness.

One year it fell out of her mail box on to the street and vehicles ran over it before she was able to retrieve it. Some of the writing is smeared but most of it is intact.

It’s very special, she’s very special, and we have lots of happy memories together, growing up living across the street from each other.

Happy Birthday Diane.

Caramel Corn, the Cat

While looking for my Steiff dog in the bassinet I was reminded of a story about our cat, Caramel Corn. She was a wonderful little kitty cat. She loved to be around people. A friend reminds me of the time she came over for coffee and we sat at our kitchen table and I pulled up a stool so Caramel Corn could jump up and sit there with us!

Another fun memory of Caramel Corn happened when we moved into our new house in Northfield (over twenty years ago). One day I was looking for Caramel Corn and I could not find her anywhere. It was so unlike her to go outside…even when the door was wide open she usually didn’t venture out, but this day I thought she must have sneaked out when a contractor was coming in or going out…that’s the only thing I could think of since I had looked everywhere for her!

I kept working on my project while trying to figure out what to do. I went upstairs to get something and saw a slight movement in the corner….I walked over and there in the bassinet was Caramel Corn, buried among all the stuffed animals! (just like ET for those who remember the scene in the 1980’s movie.) I laughed, took her picture and was relieved to find her safe and sound.

We loved Caramel Corn. She died in 2006 at the age of twelve.

Stuffed Animals

img_4484-1

A few years ago I gave myself permission to buy a stuffed animal when I found one particularly irresistible…I enjoy it for awhile and then give it away at Christmastime. I found this black bear at the outfitters in Tofte where we rented two kayaks for the day. This cute little bear came back to the cabin with us.

In recent years the fabric for stuffed animals has changed and very soft fabrics are used to make the animals so cozy and cuddly.

We bought “teddy bears” of the soft and cuddly kind for our grandchildren; one for Zoey and one for Ezra. This black bear may go to one of them.

I have my teddy bear from when I was a little girl and the fur is worn in several places. My husband’s sister retrieved his boyhood bear from the farmhouse attic several years ago. I saved our two son’s teddy bears and have all four bears displayed on a shelf in our home.

An old baby bassinet downstairs holds some other stuffed animals from when our sons were young. Although I have discarded several I have kept the favorites…including “Racoonie” the one that came with us on several road trips and bothered the other brother endlessly.

When my cousin and I were in Zurich, Switzerland in 1972 we went in to a famous Steiff toy store and I bought a stuffed dog, with the trademark “button in it’s ear.” I still have that little guy in the bassinet downstairs along with the other critters.

Blueberry Picking

I picked blueberries this morning at Little Hill Berry Farm. It’s great to have fresh, local, organic fruit available close to home. My motivation this morning, on the last day of picking for this season, was to have some available for my son who is home for a short visit from Mozambique. He made arrangements to come back to attend a college friend’s wedding in MI and stopped by MN for a few days before heading back to Africa. It’s so good to see him. It was a sweet moment when he Skyped home this morning and precious, little Zoey (21 months) said “Hi Daddy!” It’s the first time I’ve heard her say daddy.

Last July when his wife and daughter were visiting us in Minnesota and I took them Little Hill Berry Farm to pick blueberries. It was a first experience for them and now a fun memory.

A Step Back In Time

lamp

We stepped back in time last week when we visited my 96-year-old aunt, Flo. Well, she’s not really my aunt…she’s my aunt’s friend but they lived together since 1937 so she’s a part of the family. My very special Auntie Ag died in 2004 but we try to stay connected with her friend, Flo. My aunt and Flo met at a munitions plant in the 1930’s where they both were working at the time. They became lifelong friends.

Flo still lives in the same house that these two women bought in 1968. It was only a year or two old when they bought it and it was very high-quality construction and workmanship. However, Flo told us the gold living room carpet and draperies were the first on their list to change out. Forty-eight years later the gold, wool carpeting is still there –in remarkably good shape – and the gold, full-length heavy, lined draperies, which cover a wall of windows overlooking a creek running through the backyard, are still hanging.

She recently replaced the original refrigerator because it was making a noise, although it was still working. The original built-in, avocado-green oven and stovetop works and the original vinyl is still covers the kitchen floor.

The living room furniture is mostly original too. My favorites are the two tall gold, glass lamps that adorn each side of the sofa (which I remember the sofa being covered in clear plastic for many years.)

I have always loved going to their home…it holds many happy memories for me.

As we sat in her comfortable living room we asked Flo about the jobs she’s had over the years and for the next hour she told us some very interesting stories. I’d suggest to anyone with a relative or friend over ninety to ask about their work history. It’s revealing. What a delightful afternoon.

As we walk through the door of this wonderful home it seems we take a step back in time for a little while and it feels good. Then awhile later we walk back into the real world again.