we spent a few days at my great aunts looking through photo albums and reading old letters….VERY old letters…some from her parents when they were courting. it was so much fun to go through all of it!
she had boxes and boxes of old magazines….she also had LIFE and LOOK and the Saturday Evening Post.
this is my aunt when she was seven…the same age as annie.
what an adorable ballerina!
the original text message.
this was the family busines…and an open letter of complaint to the owners.
and she kept it!
she had chairs and footstools like this in her home.
we found this quilt and her daughter in law got very happy and remembered her mother helping her mother in law work on it.
and we were in awe of the detail.
hundreds of circles…HUNDREDS…and each little fold of white on all four sides of each piece is sewn by hand.
truly a masterpiece.
and it was in plastic and had never been used.
amaaaaazing.
she made felt ornaments with teeny detail forever.
each one was so sweet.
we found an article written about her church mice she made that was in the paper.
i have a set of christmas church mice…mary and joseph and baby jesus mice.
in her jewelry box… :)
this is my aunt liza in a fur lined coat…looking very swanky.
her bathroom had gold wallpaper.
and this was her typewriter that she used for everything.
i came across this photo and knew right away that it was my grandmother and we are guessing it was her daughter….the first of five babies.
i loved this picture but no one knew who it was.
this was an aunts home in beverly hills.
and then there were bunches of pictures of this baby.
no lables of who it was and nobody recognized anyone in the pictures.
but a baby in a wicker high chair in the hollyhocks is always precious…1912 or 2012.
this baby was adorable!
i just wanted to reach in and squish those chubby cheeks!
no one knew who this was but he has character and personality…you can see it.
and this one cracked me up!
no labels again so i have no idea who it is ….but it reminded me of something.….
ha ha haaaaaaaa!!!
i am home now safe and sound.
miss that i won't go back there again but happy for her to not have to be a 101 year old body anymore.
she was a special lady.
the words "strong woman" came up with almost everyone who spoke about her.
everyone who knew her knew what that meant.
i will miss her.
thanks for all your sweet words this week…you are the nicest blog readers!
what's on your plate this weekend?
i hoping for a campfire with s'mores sometime.
but we'll see…
there about a billion things going on for us….relaxing doesn't sound like it is on the list.
Annika - What a lovely time and great post! Thank you for sharing all these memories. I love going through my grandparents’ photoalbums to get a glimpse of what they were like when they were young. DO people still write love letters today? What wonderful keepsakes. <3
April R - thank you. I’ve said that before here but really, truly, thank you for sharing.
jenw - I was reading your blog and Little Wonders by Rob Thomas came on Pandora as I was scrolling through your Aunt’s treasures – it really touched my heart to see these snippets of life unfold – I cried good tears for a life lived – and then I laughed at your photo at the end – You always find a way to crack me up!! Thanks for sharing!
Whitney - What wonderful memories- old photos are wonderful!!! My grandmother has a ton of old fabric in her attic so there were actually about 6 prints in that quilt I had seen before… brought back a lot of fun old memories of going up there and picking out fabric to make baby quilts with. Sorry for your aunt’s passing, but she sure did live a great life!
Leeann - Amazing pictures, what a find! I’m sure it took days to go through all the photos, etc. So sorry for your Aunt’s passing. She lived a lot of life! Thanks for sharing your family photos. Lovely!
http://www.classicmemories.com/dvd-slideshows.html
christine ishmael - I love seeing the old memorabilia…what an amazing life! Thanks for sharing!
di - you are a hoot…that pic shows such GUMPTION…we’ll just see where we’re all at in a couple decades! 🙂
Lora - I have just one word for this post…
SWELL!
🙂
Suzanne - What an amazing life story. Thanks for sharing!
I love the picture of the four friends…it did look familiar! You crack me up!
Kimberly Dial - Meg, thank you for sharing all the pics & memories of your Aunt. It took me back to the day my aunts, cousins & I were clearing out my grandmother’s things. We laughed & cried but, we mostly laughed going thru all the pictures & the memories they evoked from our childhood & the great woman who had gone on … so precious to us. Thanks again for sharing my friend … she sounds like an awesome woman who left quite the legacy 🙂
Heather - Wow! What fantastic treasures. I felt my eyes pop open wide like a cartoon character’s when I got to the quilt picture. GORGEOUS! The amount of time that must have gone into making that…well, I can’t even fathom it.
Mary - what a blessing to be able to see and touch and read all of that history!
family treasures are my fave…sometimes i just want to be transported back to those times, a different era, and slow my life down!
but i’m sure i would miss my washing machine and IG. 🙂
i hope you get some rest this weekend, meg!
Lynette - What precious memories! That quilt is amazing!!! So colorful! Thanks for sharing with us!
Kate @ ramblings from utopia - What a treasure trove of memories! I met a lady who made a similar quilt she was telling me how she used chicken feed sacks for the off white material on the quilt and that it took 8 years to complete, I wonder about your Aunt’s? The quilt is absolutely amazing!
Christina - What an amazing post…what treasures from a life, and from history! When I got to the part about the quilt, I cried. I cannot believe it! It is, well, I don’t even have a good enough adverb for how gorgeous it is! Splendidly? That will have to do. I’m glad for your time there, and for all of the memories you have. And now they are documented!! Truly wonderful, Meg. Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Katie - I love your aunt! too sweet and if her name is Liza I am slightly happier as my 2 yr old is name Aliza! love old fashioned names!
Angie - Oh wow, you all found some real treasures. LOVE that quilt. Just imagine how much time and patience went into that. Glad you got to be part of finding these gems. Your so right, no one wants to live in a 101 year old body forever. May your Aunt rest in peace.
Hope you get your smores this weekend and just make time for relaxation, everything else will wait!
Kimberlee Jost - What an amazing tribute to Liza.
I’m sad that I never got to meet her, but I’m guessing maybe I know her in part just knowing you.
Andrea T - what a beautiful recollection. i am glad you had the chance to be there & celebrate her!
Laura - so awesome
all of it
angie - Awesome photos. Treasures! And that quilt… Oh my!
Lisa M. - Wonderful pictures and my sympathies on the passing of your beloved aunt. My mom and her sister just did something similar with my grandmother’s (their mother) pictures and articles recently. She had to be put into a care home and they are cleaning out her house. They were definitely walking down memory lane!
Don’t you hate when “relaxing” isn’t on the list to do on the weekend? Seems to be the norm around my house lately! Except when we get to spend the weekend at the pool cuz it’s too stinkin’ hot to do anything else (besides sit in an air conditioned house…not my idea of fun!)!
Enjoy your weekend regardless!
Jenny Joy - I love everything about this post. And that quilt. Swoony McSwoonerson. My heart skipped a beat when I laid eyes on it. So beautiful and bright and happy!
Flower Patch Farmgirl - Those notes! That quilt! And your perfect usage of the word “swanky”! Indeed.
Kim - I so love looking through things from days gone by. I have several boxes of family documents and momentos, they are fun to look through. The quilt is beautiful. All the work and love that went into it.
I hope you have time to relax this weekend!
JoLynn - I recognized that quilt because my husband’s grandmother (who is 96) made one. Ours has been used and loved for many years.
I was also a Pi Phi! What a neat lady to learn about who was a sorority sister so long ago!
Lisa Q - what treasures! that quilt….wow! my grandma is 93 and yesterday she told me she was just so tired…I really like what you said about how you’re glad your aunt doesn’t have a 101 year old body anymore…that blessed me.
Krissy - These pictures remind me so much of my grandparents house. Especially the footstool. She had all kinds of things like that. Thank you so much for sharing! <3
sofie - I just love old pictures. So much character!
steph - what a great post!
i just adore looking through my grandmother’s old photos too.
so amazing!
just makes me want to go back to that time.
seems so much simpler, not easier, but just something about it seems special to me.
your great aunt was GORGEOUS too!!
man, those pics of her when she was young!
amazing eyes!
i love seeing those pics of her.
so cool!
glad you got to experience all that.
so hard to say goodbye… but so happy that she’s up in heaven rejoicing!!! 🙂
soooo… who got that amazing quilt?!?
Lenette - What precious memories!!!
katey - Those pictures were fabulous. Thank you for sharing. Love the little church mice.
sue - I love that she kept things. It makes me sad that the future generation will only have there video games or iphones to leave in a suitcase not quilts or photo’s or typwriters or old letters.I bet you wanted the quilt when you saw it. Did you get a chance to keep anything ?
Leah - These are such amazing photos! It’s so neat that she saved all those mementos. And the felt Christmas ornaments – how cute are they?! Thanks for sharing these amazing memories with all of us.
megan@contentedsparrow - what amazing photos….all those memories….the handwriting….the telegram. what a gift to have those to go through. a piece of history, really.
here’s to hoping you WILL get a moment of relaxation this weekend, meg!
happygirl - What a treasure chest of memories. Thanks for sharing. I’ll bet those magazines and newspapers have some value. 🙂
Debby - My mom has a quilt just like that on their bed! What fun treasures she kept for you to look through!!
carla - I don’t think I have ever commented on your blog, but I have to tell you how much this post got to me. Thank you for sharing such a personal perspective of your Aunt’s life. I will be thinking about it all day.
Megan - This brought so much joy to my heart! I’m so glad you got to see all of her treasures. I am 26 and used to play with those little mice – I had all different kinds of them : )
Valerie @ Chateau A La Mode - I love that you shared such special moments with us. We all have such a back story don’t we? Have a wonderful weekend Meg. Hope you get a S’More.
Michelle Z - I wish little ballerinas still wore those socks.
Casey - My great-great aunt was like a grandmother as well to me – I miss her terribly, and desperately wished I had paid attention to how she made her homemade biscuits when I was a child (no recipe, of course). These trinkets and photos are so lovely – and they always are the things that mean the most. I have a string of red beads from my aunt that date back to the 1920’s – they are my favorite piece of jewelry other than my wedding bands. I’m so sorry for your family’s loss – but isn’t it wonderful to have such good memories of someone? 🙂 What an amazing woman.
mary - that is an amazing cathedral window quilt…what fabulous memories!
Stephany - I was a Pi Beta Phi, too!
(and have lots of cousins who went to KU…including on who was a Pi Phi)
I guess I’m lucky to call her a “sister”.
Love the old photos!
tiffany gardner - Thanks for sharing those photos. I loved them! Life is such a precious thing and sometimes we get so caught up in “stuff”…we forget to live life. All those photos reminded me to stop, breathe and live. xo.
mae - Wow. This is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing! What a tribute…
Southern Gal - Sorry for your loss. She was an amazingly talented woman. Love the old photos. And that quilt!
Jolene (Homespun Heritage) - Three years ago we met our two boys at a picnic in Detroit…a few months later they became ours! We go back each year as a family tradition and tomorrow is that day and we’ll enjoy the day and the memories!
Kimber-Leigh - what treasures…both the items & the memories remembered 🙂
that quilt IS amazing.
Cathy - That quilt is gorgeous!
rae - amazing! i’m glad you gave us a peak at all those things she kept. i hope someone from the family keeps her scrapbooks! i bought a lady’s travel scrapbooks from the 30’s at an estate sale, and it made me so sad that no one in the family wanted it! and that quilt! GORGEOUS! my favorite is all the crafts she made!
Dani - I love to look at my mother’s old pictures. Times seemed so much simpler then…I’m sure they didn’t think so.
That quilt is AMAZING! I love the colors!
Glad you are home safe!
Angela Atkins - So glad you had time to be with your family as they sorted through her photos and other bits of her life. It looks like she was an amazing woman.