Yesterday I visited the blog of one of my favorite photographers, David duChemin. He’s writing a series of posts entitled Objects of Beauty, summarized in this way:
A friend once commented that we (I think he meant me) mark our lives by the things we acquire. I think that’s less true than that we have an interesting relationship to those things. They help tell our story.
David is photographing meaningful objects and telling their story, or really his story as shaped and influenced by these special items. Here are links to numbers one, two, three, four, and five (I dare you not to cry over four; five got me, too).
I immediately knew that I wanted to borrow this idea! What would I include? What possessions do I consider precious enough to make the list?
The first thing that came to mind 99.9% of people would put straight in the garbage can and the other 0.1% would use in a craft project. It’s a popsicle stick. A popsicle stick.
Before you decide that I’ve lost it, let me tell you a story . . .
I grew up living close to my grandparents. Granddad, my mom’s father, was a minister and a businessman who co-owned a piano company with my dad through most of my childhood. Although Granddad retired from the piano business years before he and Daddy started this company, with rezoning they set up shop right on the property where my grandparents lived.
After school my sister, my first cousin, and I went to my grandparents’ house. Both of my parents were there because my mother handled the bookkeeping. My great aunts lived across the street.
Looking back, it couldn’t have been more idyllic: biscuits and sorghum with Granddad; playing H.O.R.S.E. or baseball in the yard; Partridge Family and Gilligan’s Island marathons on TV.
Granddad with our oldest son
But I promised you a story about the popsicle stick . . .
Granddad was a minister, remember? He sat in a big recliner with a desk on his left and bookshelves full of religious commentaries behind him. His Bible was supple and worn, full of notes and verses underlined in red ink. These lines weren’t haphazard, they were drawn precisely, pen guided by a popsicle stick beneath each line of text.
Granddad passed away in 1991, days before the birth of our second child. Some of his books are mine now, and inside one I found one of those old popsicle sticks with red ink along the edges. I’ve kept it with my Bible ever since, forever connected to a precious time and a dear man.
What’s an unusual object of beauty that you cherish?
Today marks the sixth anniversary of My Home Sweet Home! Whether you’re a new visitor or we go way back, welcome!
What a true treasure!
What a lovely post! And congrats on your anniversary. I don’t know if my “object” is unusual but it’s certainly a treasure. I have my grandma’s rolling pin. I don’t use it for baking – I just have it in my kitchen. It’s wooden and crooked and very squeaky. Sometimes I’ll roll it just to hear it squeak. Then I’m suddenly transported home to her kitchen with all the wonderful smells of cooking and baking. And there’s still some dried dough in the crevices that I can’t bring myself to clean because it’s dough from something she made many many years ago.
MaryBeth, you got me all teary eyed. What a sweet story and a precious object you have!
This is just beautiful. I love your story about the popsicle stick and your granddad.
I have a teeny tiny vintage bottle that my mother gave to my daughter when she was just two years old. It was right in the midst of the terrible twos (and shedding many tears) and my mom told her to put her tears in the bottle and make “tear water tea”… my little girl would always run to that bottle when she was upset and try to squeeze tears in there for grandma. She’s 11 now and that bottle sits on her shelf and when she is upset I tell her to get the bottle and we can talk… my mom always made me feel 100% better and I think that somehow that bottle helps me to remember that with my own daughter.
(Now I want to blog about tear water tea…. you have me thinking!)
Happy six year anniversary!
Mary, you should totally write about tear water tea. That’s a wonderful story!
Happy Bloggiversary Dawn! It’s funny you have a popsicle stick from your Grandad’s devotionals. I have my Grandpa’s Magnifying glass he used to read his bible and I have that very bible too.
Here’s to legacies.
Someday you may need that magnifying glass, and what a special one you’ll have! 😉
a popsicle stick….oh, the memories that invokes. and new ones being made. Dawn, thank you for sharing your heart…for 6 years…you are a blessing to so many…not just here, in this keyboard/monitor, but in real life!
Rebecca, thank you for the encouraging words!
Dawn,
This was an amazing post. I’m quite sure I have tears in my eyes! 😉
What a very special item to have.
Happy anniversary!
Grace and Peace,
Vicki
Vicki, I miss you! Coming back to GA?
Happy bloggy anniversary!! Love the Granddad story. Special indeed!
Blessings to you today.
~ Kerry
Thanks, Kerry! Isn’t it funny how something as mundane as a popsicle stick holds such powerful memories?
I grew up with your Mom and Linda. Lived next door. Spent a lot of time at the “Piles ” house. Miss them so very much. Some of my most treasured childhood memories.
Miss Margaret, how did you find me? What a treat to find a comment that connects to my childhood, too! How are you?