Painting by Joyce Meik
The other day while I was dejunking.... okay in reality I was just rearranging all my junk (please tell me I'm not the only one who has such a hard time throwing things away) I found a Valentine's Day card. It was from my Grandma Meik. Growing up I was always able to count on getting a homemade card from my Grandma on holidays. The cards were only officially from her on birthdays, but I always knew where the others were coming from. Example: The St. Patrick's Day cards were always from a leprechaun.... yet the return address was the same town as my Grandma's.....fishy.
When I opened the Valentine's Day card inside it said "from ?" That's when I remembered the moment I opened the card for the first time. I was a freshman in college living in a cold, new place. It was 2010. Opening the card and seeing a two dollar bill(something she always included in her cards) provoked some major crying. It wasn't that I needed just two more dollars at the time, it was because her consistency and love made me feel at home when I was far from it. I like how she tried to add some mystery to my 18 year old Valentine's Day by signing the card with a question mark.
I love the example my Grandma set in thinking of others. In her dining room, next to her calendar, she had a list of all the family birthdays happening in the current month. She was excellent at sending birthday cards. Another way she would show her thoughtfulness is through saving newspaper clippings/ magazine articles she thought you would be interested in. When I declared myself an Art History major and word got to Grandma I was sent a newspaper clipping about a local art historian in her area within a month. I can't remember what the article was about but I remember feeling loved and thought of. When my family would visit her when I was even younger she would sometimes have a magazine clipping of a perfume sample to give to me and Randee. I thought it was so fancy. Womanly-smelling piece of paper. She knew how to make people feel special.
I love the example my Grandma set in thinking of others. In her dining room, next to her calendar, she had a list of all the family birthdays happening in the current month. She was excellent at sending birthday cards. Another way she would show her thoughtfulness is through saving newspaper clippings/ magazine articles she thought you would be interested in. When I declared myself an Art History major and word got to Grandma I was sent a newspaper clipping about a local art historian in her area within a month. I can't remember what the article was about but I remember feeling loved and thought of. When my family would visit her when I was even younger she would sometimes have a magazine clipping of a perfume sample to give to me and Randee. I thought it was so fancy. Womanly-smelling piece of paper. She knew how to make people feel special.
I'm grateful to have had such a great Grandma in my life.
And I'm grateful for my pack rat behaviors. If they were not part of me I probably would not have fallen upon a card with a question mark in it and been reminded of my Grandma's love that day.
Saving things can be a good thing.
Please don't quote me on that when you are on hoarders.
..... and please don't throw that in my face when I'm on hoarders.
