Lucky Dorito

A few days ago, I held a contest where you were invited to guess WHO submitted photos of items that they considered to be *Priceless Treasures*. You know those things we all hold near and dear to our hearts for sentimental reasons, not because they are monetarily valuable.

All the items are truly priceless to each of us. Here they are, along with a story about what each item means to its owner and…. who owns each treasure.

Treasure #1:

Submitted by Guinevere:

The story behind this cookie jar is pretty simple.  When I was younger…much younger…my parents (mostly my mom) would take me and my two sisters to visit my grandparents. And Grandma would notoriously meet us at the door with hugs and kisses…and cookies.  Grandma had Teddy setting on her kitchen counter as far back as I can remember.  But, after Grandpa passed away and Grandma started suffering from dementia and wasn’t able to get around as well, she was moved into a nursing facility.  All of her “extra things” got packed away.  After she died, my mom was going through her things and she asked each of us girls what was the one thing we wanted more than anything else.  (Outside of the piano, which I got because I was the only one who played.)  One of my sisters wanted a stuffed animal of some sort that Grandma kept on the guest bed.  My other sister wanted some other knick knack.  And I asked for the cookie jar.  Teddy has survived COUNTLESS moves and has always occupied a spot on my kitchen counter.  He doesn’t always hold cookies (they don’t last that long in our house), but he has held lots of other little things through the years.  I’ve had him for the past 13 years…at least.  And every time I see him, I think of all the visits to my grandparents’ house…and all the cookies.  )

Treasure #2:

Submitted by Shannon:

During the last few months of my mothers life, we cheered her on to keep fighting the cancer- constantly telling her that we knew she would be well soon. During that time my sister tried to encourage my mother to take care of things like making out a will and taking care of business decisions. My mother resisted, saying that she would do those things when she felt better. Sadly, that time never came.

After her death my sister was looking through all of my mothers papers. She did not find a will but what she did find was truly priceless. Although my mother had not had a will drawn up, she took the time to make sure that one of the most important people in her life,my daughter Madison, would always know how much her Nana loved her.

In her things we found a book. On the front of the book was a note from my mother that said simply For Madison. The title of the book was Nana, Will you Write Me from Heaven?

Looking back, I think that the only thing that kept my mother alive those past few months,was a desire to spend more time with Madison. who was her only grandchild. During those last few months of my mothers life, she was rarely alone- as she was violently ill from chemo and couldn’t even drive. How she found time to purchase this book or where it came from, we will probably never know. But what it showed me is that we will find a way to do those things that are truly important to us. So somehow my mother found a way to show Madison that she loved her more than anything by leaving something behind for her. The book is a precious story about a grandmother and her granddaughter having a talk about the fact that one day the grandmother will die. The little girl in the story asks if her grandmother will write to her from heaven and the grandmother explains that she will- through the birds chirping in the trees, the sunrise in the morning, and the starts twinkling at night. The story is precious but the words written by my mother are the true treasure in the book. The day that we found the book, I picked it up and tried to read the note written to Madison on the first page. I couldn’t see the words due to my tears.

I’ve only read it a few times in the past almost six years, because it is still so hard. As I took the book out to take a picture of it and turned to the first page, I realized that my tears stain that page. I’ve never been able to read it without crying. And I doubt I ever will. Reading the words my mother wrote I can almost hear her saying them aloud. I can only imagine how difficult they were to write.

It says:

Dearest Madison,

I wish that I had the words to tell you of the joy and happiness you brought into my life. I never knew true joy until you were born. Being able to see the world through your beautiful eyes has been my greatest blessing. You have enriched my life beyond belief. As long as you remember me, in your heart, I will always be with you. You won’t be able to see me but I will be watching you from Heaven. I will be part of all you do and all you are. Don’t be sad- just remember the fun we had and the love we shared. That will always remain. You will always be “Nana’s darling”.

I love you,

Nana

This book is truly priceless- as are her words. It’s a reminder that my sweet mother spent her last six months not thinking of herself and her pain, but thinking of something to do to remind those around her how much they were loved. I only pray that when my time on earth is through, that I will be as selfless and loving.

Treasure #3:

This is mine, Dory:

I love this table. When I was about 8 years old, we were moving from one town to another. We had two of these tables at the time. I was absolutely driving my parents crazy begging them to allow me to HELP move furniture. They kept telling me and my sisters to go play outside (so we wouldn’t be in the way, I’m sure). But I was a *determined* young girl! I picked up one of these two tables and held the flat tabletop surface against my belly and started out the doorway with it. I ran into the door facing after about 4 steps and BROKE the entire bottom half of the table away from the top!! I freaked out, scared to show my Mom because she had TOLD ME over and over to leave stuff alone. So, I did what any kid that is afraid to own up to something does – I HID IT! I put both halves of the broken table in a closet that my mom thought was empty already and left it there. Days later, after we’d arrived at the new house and unloaded – she noticed only one table had arrived. She was quite perplexed about it and asked each of us if we’d seen it. I finally ‘fessed up and told her. She was NOT too happy about it, needless to say, but she really didn’t get as upset as I thought she would. She did tell me that if she’d KNOWN, the table might have been easily repaired. (Who knew?) Years later (as in, about 10 years ago) she gave me the other one of the set. I think it was so that I would never forget the GUILT I felt for not owning up to my shortcomings. Believe me, that table is a constant reminder that facing the reality of our mistakes is not nearly as bad as we THINK it will be!

Treasure #4:

Submitted by Stacy:

This was my dad’s jacket.  He passed away 1990 and this is one thing that I wanted and have always kept of his.  It is so worn and thread bare in places it is really no use to anyone, but I keep it just because.  I used to wear it all of the time, but several kids later, it no longer fits.

Treasure #5:

Submitted by Jen:

Here are a couple of my treasures, together in one photo.
The quilt is handpieced and given to me by my mother for my college graduation
The bear was given to me on the first Christmas my husband and I were dating – the bear also had 14k gold hoops in his ears, but I’ve since lost one of the hoops. 

Treasure #6:

Submitted by Stacy:

There are three pieces in this trio.  The one on the left is a Willow Tree of a Father and Son, the one on the right is another Willow Tree of a pregnant mother.  The one in the middle is the one that means the most to me.  This is a little cherub sitting in God’s hands blowing a kiss.  In 2001 we had a miscarriage and this is our little momento to our Angel Baby.

Treasure #7:

Submitted by Shannon:

These Bibles are also priceless because they represent the faith of people that I love. One Bible was my mother’s, one was my grandmother’s, one was Honey’s when he was young, and one was the Bible we received on our wedding day from the preacher who performed our ceremony. I love reading the Bibles of my mother and grandmother- seeing the verses that were important to them and the words that they occasionally wrote in the margins.

Treasure #8:

This is mine too, Dory.

Now, I have to admit something here. I honestly do NOT remember WHO this belonged to originally. It was one of my grandmother’s, I believe, but I’m not sure if it was my mom’s mom or my dad’s mom. (I TOLD you I have memory issues!) I do remember that it sat in my mom’s kitchen for years. She gave it to me around the time my hubby and I got married fourteen years ago. Inside, it still contains several old cookie cutters and a pair of glasses that belonged to my Granny. I have no roosters in my house except for this one. But, I love it anyway.

There you have it! This was a great contest for me, to see what each of you hold valuable. Reading each story was the BEST part for me. I think this was one of my favorites, really.

And the winner is a TIE: Both Jen and Shannon got 4 out of 8 correct! Good going girls!

So…. tell me, what shall we do next? Any ideas or suggestions? Let me know! I was sort of thinking of something a little easier…. like maybe a favorite pair of shoes (some of us have SEVERAL favorites of these!) or a picture of your favorite kind of candy! Something way less personal so that maybe more people might participate. What do you think?

Ya’ll have a wonderful Friday! Get out there and enjoy the day!

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