Who I Want to Be

My mom always had magazines and catalogs around for us to cut up and I have very clear memories of the box of used greeting cards upstairs at my grandmother's house that were up for grabs. I even remember the way it smelled when I was sorting through them. They both would have loved that I am making flowers out of torn catalog pages.

Rainbow scraps from a Gudrun's World Catalog:

I don't have a lot of photos of my mom and grandma....but I love this one because when I think of them....this is how I picture them.  Grandma (Bessie) always wore a dress and stockings and took the time to put on earrings, some sort of pearl or beaded necklace and usually a pin...and a little rouge on her cheeks....even days she was all alone.  My mom (Elaine) had a more casual....but very put together sense of style....and she put on lipstick every day. I'm fairly certain that in this photo my mother is the age I am right now.

These classy women remind me of who I want to be....who I hope to be.

During an e-mail exchange with Linda late this afternoon I was reminded of a favorite Easter memory.  

My mom used to turn this cake stand I wrote about in this post upside down as an Easter centerpiece.  She would put flowers in the hollow base and line the underside of the top with Easter grass and our decorated Easter eggs and those fuzzy little yellow chicks.  I remember thinking it was so special. Mom had a flare for decorating and homemaking. I'm sure she learned that from Bessie...and I learned it from her....and I am grateful. I think I AM a little bit of each of them.