"Things Remembered" - #HAWMC - WEGO Writers Challenge April 8th 2015

This is probably one of the simplest of all things for me to write about.Without one doubt my "Grandmothers" blanket that has satin/silk border around the entire thing is and always will be something near and dear to my heart.

It was hers and she kept it in beautiful shape actually for me. I have to say I've worn out MANY blankets with the satin/silk border on them. So even though this one that was my Grandmother's is not the "original" it of course still holds the many memories of me rubbing the silk on my blanket. I've kept them each for many, many years. Once I found one, that had the exact type of "satin" border I loved to rub, I would keep it until every little bit of that was rubbed off before I would give it up.

I have "rubbed" silk on a blanket as far back as I can remember. I guess even before I can recall it, Mom said I did that rather than sucking my thumb etc. I found it a bit embarrassing to say I still do this, and here I am just over 50 years old. but, I do it out of being stressed. Or, if I am sick, or down with a bad flare, then I want that blanket. I will rub that satin anytime I am down and out, stressed out, feeling lousy, the silk is like something that calms me down.

My Grandmother passed away over 12 years ago, yet I still have such incredible memories of her each time I put that blanket on my side of the bed.

I also have another item, that is about as near and dear to me, that in fact is also something from my Grandmother,  She had a cookie jar that was covered in different kinds of "cookies". It was ceramic and has a "walnut" for the top on the lid. I LOVED that cookie jar from the time I was old enough to watch her bake in the kitchen. She just about always had home made, from scratch cookies, almost like a tea cake, and they had one "whole half of a pecan" in the middle of each cookie.

I had said for many, many years, that if something happened to my Grandmother I wanted that cookie jar. There were many beautiful pieces of china and silver that we had given her over the years. Yet, that cookie jar held and still holds so many awesome childhood memories for me that take me back to a much more serene, simple time in my life.

So, after she passed away, my Mom made sure it was saved for me. Along with it, was two of my Grandfather's fishing reels, because I fished with him and Dad when I was young, and of course the blanket. Also, I have a completely by hand done quilt that she also did for me.

So, as time continues to pass by, faster it seems with each day, there are a couple of "material" items that always help to bring back those wonderful times when I played under the shade trees at home in the Summer with my table and chairs, or fished for "crawdads" in the ditches around my Grandparents house, watched Dad garden, take care of quail he used to raise, go fishing, go to the deer lease, vacations, and many, many incredible memories at my Grandparents home, from all of our family holiday dinners, to just how wonderful it was to have a place that almost felt like a refuge from life when it seemed almost too much to bear.