All my life I’ve had a habit of misplacing something important. Generally this doesn’t mean losing it forever. Sometimes it’s just a day or a month or it can be a few years.
For the past few years I couldn’t find my grandmother’s wedding dress. If you’ve read Scrap: Salvaging a Family this obviously is NOT the dress of my father’s mother, but my mother’s mother. She shows up only as a couple of mentions in the book, but she was my favorite relative and shows up in a few poems in Rooted and Winged. She also was a writer–of tiny humorous stories–and her role model was Jo in Little Women.
She is my role model for being a Grandma.
Can you imagine how I felt when I opened a box I hadn’t seen in a long time and saw her dress inside it? I had put it in an acid-free box and then put it away. Other stuff ended up in front of it and as time went on I kept searching the same places over and over, not finding it. Until I did.
WOOT! My grandparents were married in South Bend, Indiana on May 21, 1932. I wrote about the wedding on The Family Kalamazoo blog years ago.
In 1931, Grandpa had asked Grandma to marry him as he drove her in the car from Kalamazoo to her parents’ farm in Caledonia. But Grandma had to wait a year to teach and give the money to her family who were struggling financially because of the Great Depression.
Also, my grandfather’s mother, Cora, was dying of cancer.
So there was no big celebration for my grandparents. Aunt Jen, Cora’s sister stayed with Cora while they got married. They drove to South Bend, Indiana, although Grandpa was from Kalamazoo and Grandma from Caledonia, two southwestern Michigan towns. They could get a marriage license and marry immediately in South Bend.
Traveling with them were Grandma’s sister Vena and her boyfriend Al Stimson’s cousin, Herb Thorpe. They had forgotten to get flowers, so they plucked spirea along the way.
This is the dress and a close-up of the art deco belt buckle.
Just think, in six years this dress will be 100 years old.
Weren’t they the cutest?
Do you misplace things regularly or does this not happen to you? I keep wondering if it’s my ADHD.
I love that dress! It’s something I would wear. Do I misplace things? All. The. Time!
I agree. It’s so pretty. So glad to hear I am not the only one. As soon as I find what I’m missing, something else has gone missing!
Lovely! Especially since it isn’t the expected traditional bride white. Misplacing items is a considerable life splinter. I blame gnome hijinks on disappearance issues.
So much better than plain white. Gnome hijinks!!! I like that reason so much better than mine!
They are indeed the cutest! And seeing the dress in detail and in color along with the brooch is such a treat!
They were even that cute at 80. My mom gave me the dress 20 years ago. I hadn’t even known it still existed. It was as if the photograph came to life.
How wonderful they had a long life together! And I know what you mean about the photograph coming to life. What a great gift. 💞
They both lived to be around 90. We knew that when one died the other would not be far behind as they were inseparable. My grandmother was miserable for three months before she passed. Thanks, Lori!
It’s so cool you have the dress–and the photo. They both look like someone said try to be serious, and they’re trying not to laugh.
I don’t think I misplace things regularly, but we have SO Much stuff–lots of stuff in the attic that I have no idea what’s up there.
I am so blessed with these family heirlooms including photos. The gardener just said to me last night that he didn’t have a photo of his maternal grandmother when she was young, and I could see he was sad about that.
We have too much stuff too. What I did this weekend was take one box and go through it. I tried to throw out some stuff but of course the gardener rescued some of it, so it ended up about 1% went in the trash. There was schoolwork of mine and his, as well as junior high school newspapers with a couple of ridiculous articles I wrote, stuff like that.
You are fortunate. My dad had saved a lot of our school papers and report cards and other stuff, but I think it mostly got tossed after he died. Yeah, now that it’s getting cooler, we might be able to clear some stuff from the attic–some of it is the kids’ stuff though.
You didn’t want to go through any of your old school stuff? I was very unimpressed with my pre-high school writing in the newspapers, but then it’s possible some of it was edited by someone else to make it shorter. I like my high school papers. So funny how my mom only saved my English and social studies and art work. What happened to math and science?! I am still holding onto my kids’ stuff, too, but I don’t know if they will ever have room for it.
I went through the stuff both my parents had, and I kept a few things.
You are smart to pare it down. The gardener wants to keep everything.
😊
wow the tangible feeling of that dress and the pin is so cool Luanne!! xx
Thanks, Cindy. The dress is so lightweight it makes me wonder about the weather. I imagine she had to wear a sweater as even in the best weather it wouldn’t be that warm.
You’re so welcome, Luanne. I would imagine she would have had to!!!
Great post, Luanne. Glad you found the dress. The picture is sweet too.
Oh me too. So glad! Thanks, Anneli!
I, too, am a member of the misplacing stuff club. Your grandparents look so young!! The dress and the Art Deco belt buckle are beautiful.
Oh, I am so sorry you have to go through that, too. It can be so stressful to realize something is missing and not be able to locate it. I too think that the dress and buckle are beautiful and such a wonderful burst of what 1932 could look like at its best. People had been through so much for three years.
What a lovely story, Luanne.
Thank you, John!
Oh, this is just delightful! In our “downsizing,” we’re finding things we’d forgotten about. Even a small box of Grandma Leora’s hair! https://joynealkidney.com/2017/03/13/clabe-gives-a-shingle-bob-to-his-wife/
What a cool find, Joy. I keep trying to downsize, but I don’t feel I’m getting anywhere.
Oh Luanne – these are wonderful memories to have. The wedding dress is exquisite and they definitely were a cute couple.
Thank you so much, Rebecca! They were still cute when they were old. They died three months apart.
How wonderful that you have this priceless dress. Does it fit you? Wearing it for a 100th celebration would be priceles.
Oh, that is such a cool idea! but haha no I cannot wear it. When I was the age of my grandmother I could have worn it for sure, but not any longer. Although I do have six years to lose weight . . . .
What a thrill to find this again! It’s just beautiful and it stirs the imagination! Do I lose stuff? Yes. This week , I was looking for a book about Great Lakes Islands….. but alas, where is it?
It is so annoying to lose something. When I lose a book it is almost unfindable because I have too many books and don’t have strict categorization.
I am slowly catching up with various blogs. I am so glad you found the dress!
Oh me too. I hope to get over to your blog soon to read about Berlin and Paris!