Embroidered memories
I can't put this on Facebook because my family's all on FB. Friday was the second anniversary of my mother's death. As I was getting ready for church this morning, I noticed that all my nice embroidered handkerchiefs which I use for church are showing signs of wear.
I do use disposable tissues, too, but I always have cloth hankies with me as well. For work and other taking-care-of-business days, I use the larger men's handkerchiefs which I found can be purchased at Macy's in the same section with men's suits. Ladies' nice hankies are harder to find.
I realized that every one of my nice hankies had been a gift from my mother. This is one of those items which all of my family associates closely with my mother. She only used ladies' hankies, never men's, so they were all embroidered or at least printed with flowers. And as not all her clothing had pockets (a very common and rather annoying situation with women's clothing), she had a habit of stuffing her hankies everywhere: up her sleeve, in her bra, wherever she could. It was amusing, as a kid, watching her fumbling around, riffling her clothing, trying to find her hankies. When she died, her hankies were some of the items that my sisters and I divided up.
I have asked my sisters, who used to take her shopping, where she would find the nice hankies. There was no set answer. She shopped everywhere, and where she found them, she bought them. She got them in hospital gift shops and bargain stores and in a lot of different places.
I googled for women's embroidered handkerchiefs and found a supply through Amazon. So, since my sisters don't know about my LJ, I have ordered 3 sets, one for myself, one for Joy, and one for Charity. (None for Maleficent, who tends to regard such things as "old lady stuff" that she tried to talk our mother out of. She tried to convince our mother not to use her cane and walker because they "made her look like an old lady." Oy.)
Had I thought of it earlier, and I not been working frantically to get Hanukkah gifts done, I would have searched for plain women's hankies and embroidered them myself. (I have some of my embroidery and knitting/crocheting up on my Ravelry page. I'm Bratwoman there.) But there's next year.
I just started knitting a small shawl ("Wingspan" pattern for those knitters aware of it) for Charity, so I won't do any embroidery this year. But I think it would be a nice yearly thing as a remembrance of our mother.
I do use disposable tissues, too, but I always have cloth hankies with me as well. For work and other taking-care-of-business days, I use the larger men's handkerchiefs which I found can be purchased at Macy's in the same section with men's suits. Ladies' nice hankies are harder to find.
I realized that every one of my nice hankies had been a gift from my mother. This is one of those items which all of my family associates closely with my mother. She only used ladies' hankies, never men's, so they were all embroidered or at least printed with flowers. And as not all her clothing had pockets (a very common and rather annoying situation with women's clothing), she had a habit of stuffing her hankies everywhere: up her sleeve, in her bra, wherever she could. It was amusing, as a kid, watching her fumbling around, riffling her clothing, trying to find her hankies. When she died, her hankies were some of the items that my sisters and I divided up.
I have asked my sisters, who used to take her shopping, where she would find the nice hankies. There was no set answer. She shopped everywhere, and where she found them, she bought them. She got them in hospital gift shops and bargain stores and in a lot of different places.
I googled for women's embroidered handkerchiefs and found a supply through Amazon. So, since my sisters don't know about my LJ, I have ordered 3 sets, one for myself, one for Joy, and one for Charity. (None for Maleficent, who tends to regard such things as "old lady stuff" that she tried to talk our mother out of. She tried to convince our mother not to use her cane and walker because they "made her look like an old lady." Oy.)
Had I thought of it earlier, and I not been working frantically to get Hanukkah gifts done, I would have searched for plain women's hankies and embroidered them myself. (I have some of my embroidery and knitting/crocheting up on my Ravelry page. I'm Bratwoman there.) But there's next year.
I just started knitting a small shawl ("Wingspan" pattern for those knitters aware of it) for Charity, so I won't do any embroidery this year. But I think it would be a nice yearly thing as a remembrance of our mother.