Recently during my therapeutic, kitchen cabinet refurbish a treasure was found. Overwhelmed with grief… the loss too painful, especially with her recipes which seem to be a connection to her soul, I just packed them away in corners and closets in my home. Not long ago with the purchase of a wonderful little cookbook cabinet that showed up just at the perfect time... I spent hours in conversation with mom while I sifted through loose clipped recipes.
A day with mom - Mom's Recipes
I rarely ever saw her use a cook book so this treasure was amazing to me. Shoved into a dark corner of a lower floor cabinet I found this large, vintage, Magnalite - Wagner Ware cooking pot. WoW! Gold!
Gingerly I retrieved the buried treasure. The lid was wrapped in a ‘required’ paper bag. I can still hear her voice on visits where she inevitably ALWAYS gave me goody bags to take home, “Here put it in a paper bag.” There was no sense refusing or arguing. Over the years I’d learned rebuffing her suggestion would be futile as whatever it was she was giving me to take home would always end up in a paper or plastic bag… in fact double bagged. One to protect it and one to carry it in. I smile now feeling a fondness for mom’s idiosyncrasies, and long for another visit or moment in the kitchen with her. Tenderly and anxiously I removed the lid and as it lifts... time stops... another wonderful conversation with mom.... memories of the kitchen filled with delicious, heartfelt memories flood in.
I have a rather large collection of collectibles from the 1930s through the 70s, mostly from mom and dad and my childhood home. In the 80s and 90s I would find collectibles in thrift stores and garage sales and sell them at the local antique mall where I had a sellers spot, always keeping mom and dad's for myself. Now the favorite ones, and there are many, are on display in my home. They still bring me comfort… keep my parents, my childhood and a simpler, happier time close to my heart, connect me to my roots.
If you grew up in the baby boomer era... how many of these items do you remember from your childhood?
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