Cloth Calendars (Jeanne)

See 17 old-fashioned linen calendar towels that lived in retro kitchens - Click Americana I'm not sure why this became our "thing," but my mom wanted to have a cloth calendar to hang on the wall in her kitchen each year and buying it for her became my goal. I used to find them in stores like Pier I, but as the years went by it got harder and harder. Then online shopping made it a breeze, though I had to order it for her birthday so she wouldn't get worried about not having one for the next year.

When dad died and Louise inherited the house and everything in it, she went through the cloth calendars and wrote down all the years' worth (see pic at left) and I made a list of the missing years (below). I'm not sure what happened to those . . . but I'm pretty sure Mom originally had them. My mom *always* had the annual cloth calendar up on the wall! I think I had originally planned to complete the set(?) or was just being compulsive about the list.

It doesn't really matter, but I thought I'd make a record of it here for posterity. I'm getting rid of scraps of paper . . . and I'm pretty sure Louise already got rid of the fabric calendars. I had initially planned to continue the tradition in Mother's memory, but Louise didn't want them. Time to move on! (I grabbed a random stock photo for the top of the page because I don't have any pictures of the actual calendars . . . I think they are long gone tea towels to rag bag items!)

Comments

Another Song Memory (Jeanne)

It's weird for me to think that my perception of childhood was that we weren't very musical . . . and yet I keep having memories of songs from my childhood! Yesterday the song "It's Me, Oh Lord" came to mind and I started singing it. What a blast from the 70s! I know we sang it as part of the worship music at St. Joan of Arc Church, but I also wish I could have a conversation with my parents about the words. It definitely stems from Matthew 7:3-5 about taking the log from your own eye before trying to remove the splinter from someone else's. (Actually, I say "definitely" because that's my own perspective. Perhaps I'm way off!) Anyhow, I can absolutely say that I need prayer. Every day, every hour of the day. We sang this song a lot - mostly at church, but at other times, too. It's a good reminder that I am in need of prayer. I need God's grace, love, and mercy. I wonder what my parents thought about this song. Here's a link ...

Emergency Contact (Jeanne)

This is a sad story. I'm not 100% what year it was (2011-2013?) but I had to fill out the same old paperwork for work. Every year, the same stuff! Phone number, address, blah blah blah. (I was super tempted to write "Nothing's changed.") But on the section where it asked for a secondary contact in case of emergency, I paused. And cried. Louie is always my first contact. But my mom had always been that second one, just in case. And it must have been the fall of 2011, because I remember the struggle I felt knowing she wouldn't have the mental acuity to take an emergency call on my behalf. The realization that her role in my life had changed and I needed to be strong for her . . . rather than me being able to lean on her . . . that was hard. I asked Morgan if I could put his name and number down in case of an emergency if they couldn't reach his dad. Of course, he said yes. I am incredibly blessed that I had my mom around for 48 years of my life and that ...

Music! (Jeanne)

I've often said that I didn't grow up with much singing . . . but that's not entirely true. Recently, I started singing Alouette ( Canadian version ). It got me thinking about why that song was in my brain and what triggered me to start singing it out of the blue. I remembered back to when we were singing it in French class (8th grade?) and I was very familiar with the tune. I had not known, however, that it was about plucking a bird's feathers! And further, the verses have us plucking feathers from the different body parts INCLUDING THE BEAK! If you're curious but don't speak French, here are the lyrics in English. It was fun to learn about this song my dad had sung to me. Besides Alouette , we grew up singing Frère Jacques . I guess my dad was more into singing (and playing piano) than my mom was. I wish I had recorded him singing when I had the opportunity. I could probably add more to this entry (and perhaps I will later), but I need to work on more pr...

Eileen and Larry Somers

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