I Found Something Today!

I am a hopeless romantic.  I realize this will come as a complete shock to most people.  But it's true. 

I have always enjoyed looking at pictures of women's clothing throughout history.  The  skirts, petticoats, cloaks, gloves, and hats were so beautiful. (Not too comfortable looking, but beautiful none-the-less.)  Ladies were ladies back then. 

                  (I have no idea who this lady is.  I bought the picture at a garage sale.)

I love lacy things.  I have a lot of odd and end beautiful lace pieces that I have collected over the years.  I don't think they would be able to be used for anything, but I like having them.  I also have lots of old lace table cloths.  They make the table look so beautiful and special for Shabbat and holidays.

 

I also like broaches and lapel pins. My collection includes pieces that I have bought, pieces that I have received as gifts, and pieces that once belonged to each of my grandmothers and my mother-in-law.  One of my favorite pins is a tiny little glass vase that I put a tiny fresh flower in.  Another of my favorites is a beautiful little delicate ballerina. 

They say that diamonds are a girl's best friend.  That might be true,  but I simply adore pearls.  The beautiful tiny white orbs are simply magic! 

I store my baubles and beads in a wonderful fabric covered box that I bought in a thrift shop several years ago.  It was a hosiery box at one time but is just right for my treasures.

 

I have one very romantic article of clothing.  My red cape.  LC bought it for me when we visited Bavaria many years ago.  It has always been very special to me.  It was not cheap, and back then we had very little money for anything other than the basics.  But he knew how much I loved capes and he saw it in a shop window and wanted to get it for me, so he did.   I feel like a queen when I wear it!



 I just might be one of the only people around who still uses a hanky to wipe my brow or clean my hands.  (I DON'T use them to blow my nose, by the way.)  I have been collecting hankies for about 20 years.  They are useful as well as beautiful.  I don't know how many I actually have, but I am always on the lookout for more of these tiny pieces of fabric that women have been carrying for hundreds of years.

About 18 years ago I came across a very special hanky that I added to my collection.  It was $3.00 at a junk shop I went into.  I had never paid that much for a hanky, but I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.

It is actually a man's hanky.  But someone had drawn a picture and written an inscription on it.  I immediately began imagining the man who gave this special gift to his wife or girlfriend.  Over the years I have imagined many different romantic stories to go with my special hanky.  I would really like to know the real story and the people in that story.

I have shared these pictures of my treasures and my thoughts so you will be able to understand just how happy I was today when I found yet, another treasure.  What I came across today is by far my very favorite one!

For a couple of weeks I have been cleaning out all the closets in the house.  It is a huge job to not only straighten up and organize things, but to actually go through boxes and stacks, toss out junk, take things to the garage to be freecycled or donated to the Hospice gift shop or saved for a garage sale.  I have been thinking that I must be off my rocker to even undertake such a job just before Rabbi and Rebbetzin come to visit.  I have enough to do without adding this HUGE undertaking to my list.  But I am trying to focus on "Less is MORE" and want to begin the new year with clean closets.  So I have been working on having less in the closets.

Today I took everything out of two closets:  my clothes closet and the toy closet.  I switched everything around so I could have the larger one for my clothes.  During the switch I sat down to look at my hanky collection.  (Getting sidetracked is very common for me, in case you did not know that about me.)

I poured out the box of hankies on the sofa and started refolding and sorting them. I came across one that I had not noticed before.  It was folded and I could see some writing on it.  I opened it and saw a drawing and an inscription on it - similar to my favorite one.  I began reading:   To Madeline from Dave.

I realized that this had been a gift from David Deckard, LC's father, to his mother, Madeline Deckard!  It must have been in her things that we kept after she died in December of 2003.  It was probably in a box in her closet, and because it was a hanky I kept it for my collection - never even looking at it.  I don't remember finding or keeping it, but that is the only thing I can think of as explanation.

I noticed the date on the hanky was December 25, 1953.  That was David's birthday.  He died when LC was only seven years old, which was about 9 years after he gave the hanky to Madeline.

So all day today I have been imagining the day David gave Madeline such a special gift.    Where were they?  Did he draw the picture or have it done someplace?  (The picture is of him.)  Was it a Christmas gift?  Were they out at a favorite resturant for dinner for his birthday?  Did they have a romantic dinner at home (Madeline was a fablous cook) since it was Christmas day and most places would have been closed?

I hope to phone Madeline's sister and ask if she knows anything about the hanky.  Perhaps Madeline told her about this special gift from a very special romantic man.

What a wonderful treasure for my collection!  I'm sure glad I decided to clean the closets today...

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                                    Missing the good times at the lake with B and E.