Thursday, August 2, 2012

Mom's Spoons

I don't know how it all started.  I don't know what made her embark upon such an adventure.  How does anything like this begin?  

Spoons.  My Mom collected spoons.   Not just your averge kitchen cutlery.  Decorative spoons.  From anyplace and everyplace.

Some of the spoons were from places she and my father had visited. 

Nubble Lighthouse in York, Maine

Once you start a collection, everyone likes to get in on the act.   So others were given to her as gifts from places friends and family had visited.

Montreal, Canada

There are spoons from many of the United States.  Some are just spoons from the State itself, and some are spoons depicting special places, such as the Nubble Lighthouse one.  Mom's goal was to have a spoon from every state.


She had 81 spoons.



They were all displayed on three spoon racks - one for the United States, one for places she'd been, and one for those given to her.

When Hubby and I went to Niagara Falls recently, I realized that every time I went into a gift shop and saw a decorative spoon, I had the urge to buy one for my Mom.  This isn't the first time it's happened.  And every time it does, it reminds me how much I loved my Mom, and how much I want to keep a part of her in my life.

So I asked my Dad if I could have Mom's collection.  I checked with my brothers and sister as well.  One brother said I could have it as long as he would still be allowed to contribute to it when he and his wife go traveling.

I said, "Of course".   Because it's not really my collection.  It still belongs to my Mom.  I'm just going to take care of it for her, until I can hand it down to one of Mom's great-grandchildren.  And I'll hope that the collection will not only be a legacy from me, but that my Mom's memory will continue on in the pleasure the next generations derive from it.





2 comments:

Joan J said...

Lovely. And I know you'll be a great caretaker of your Mom's collection.

elizasmom said...

This was really moving. I hope your mom's collection has a thousand spoons by the time you hand it on to the next generation.