“Still Remembering Mama” | Grandma’s Stories

Sep 26th “Still Remembering Mama”

This is one PHOTO that I had found of my “MOTHER” – It was hidden in a closet!

When I came home from the Orphanage, I was still in the habit of doing different chores each and every day – and, for hours at a time. So, in my opinion that is, I thought that I should start doing some of the things that I had done – – and that was cleaning out areas that look like no one had done anything about for years.

Since having worked for “Sister Seraphine” for several different times – and, I did like her – and, she was in charge of the “girl’s Clothing” area on the third floor – -I was always nosy and like to go through the boxes of stuff in closets. So, that is where I began. I checked out everything hanging on hangers, to see what there was – if anything was, what I would wear – and, what if anything my MOTHER did not want any more – because – there was a ‘second -hand dealer’ in the near-by neighborhood – – and things that my “Aunt Irene Riley” would give me – – that were not what I could use – that was the place to take them – turning the stuff into money.

In the apartment building where my “AUNT Irene” lived – there was a woman that did “shoe-modelling” and she gave to my “AUNT” some of the sample shoes she thought I would like – they were “high-heels” and my MOTHER thought, “that they were not correct for a teenager to wear” – so they were new and I took them to the “second-hand dealer” – and he paid me a nice price for them, I felt that I had made a good friend and a ‘good buyer’ of junk!

It is amazing the stuff you will find in a closet – especially one that no one ever cleans out – the stuff is put in, and just as fast, forgotten – getting older – and no one will ever think to look at or for anything – except me – I just LOVE going through a closet and looking for what I consider highly valuable – to me, or to sell!

When I had started going through the boxes and stuff on the upper shelves – stuff that no one had looked at for years – I was in HEAVEN finding things that no one remembered and things that belonged to me as a “baby” like the “Snow White Doll” still in the original box – as it came out when the “Movie” was first released and maybe someday would be worth lots of money – but, too good to just be played with, and destroyed!

The “PHOTO” above that was carefully wrapped up in the original papers from the Photographer – just there and nothing else. So, this I had to take and show my MOM – and wanted to know if I could hang it up? “NO!” “I do not like that PHOTO, just put it back!” – Well, I did as I was told, and put extra wrapping paper around it – as I wanted to be able to remember where this was – in hopes that maybe some day, “Mom” would change her mind, and I could hang it up! That never happened, but years later when I had all of these PHOTOS of the ‘ancestors’ – I decided to frame the PHOTO and NOW have it hanging in my bed-room, and I LOVE the PHOTO – as it does look terrific in my ‘book,’ as I see it, my MOM was a very beautiful woman, inside and out, as so many of her Friends have told me, so many wonderful things, that I did not know, from her younger days!

“Happy Birthday, MOM – – I know that in HEAVEN, You can celebrate, all week long – so have FUN!” D.V.