Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Precious To Me

The man in the picture is my maternal Grandfather. He was a lovely, kind Irishman who grew catnip in his garden for my Grandmother's cats. He made violins by hand with no modern power tools. He was always humming, especially while he painted. The kitty salt and pepper shakers are circa 1950 something. They are exactly like the ones my Grandmother had on her Knick Knack shelf that Grandpa made for her. After they passed away (nine months apart from each other, first her, then him) I never saw her knick knacks again. Then one day I found these kitties in an antique store. I think it was their way of saying hello. :) The flower print box, it's Tookie's ashes. Now, I'm close to crying. Just typing that hurts so much. Anyway these treasures are on our antique buffet. They mean very much to me and I wanted to share. You can bigafy if you'd like. What are some of your treasures?

4 comments:

JB's Big and Small Worlds said...

This is a sweet story of your grandfather. I like him for sure for growing catnip!
We have a box of Taffy's ashes here. It is a cedar box with a brass key, and on the top it has brass plate with Taffy's name and "Sunshine Girl". Mom called her sunshine girl because if there was ever a ray of sun anywhere in the house, that is where you would find Taffy.
My mom has some treasures from her family too. She has a very artistic family on her dad's side and collects their artwork....quite an interesting family.
Thanks for sharing this today!
--JB

Daisy said...

Anybody who grows catnip must have been a wonderful person!

The special box for Tookie's ashes is very beautiful. When my Mommie's cat Cricket went to the bridge, she did not get his ashes and she regretted it ever since. The Vet's office did send a special plaster cast of his footprint, but my Mommie cannot even bring herself to look at it.

MISS PEACH ~(^.^)~ said...

Oh what a beautiful story. I am very touched by it. I saw Caesars box in the sunshine next to Princess today on her blog. I cried because it was so tender to see that. Miss Minka was burried under her favorite flowering plum tree by the big hosta plants. We have a nice sleeping kitty statue where she rests in peace. She was mommies treasure for 18 years and now I am. Mommy is working on her Box of Life Meme I tagged her with last year (boy is she slow!) and I am sure she will tag you when she finally posts it!
Your Grandpa looks like he was a very kind man and I bet he and Grandma smiled when they saw you find those kitty knick knacks in the shop:)
I remember my Opa so well, we were the best of friends.
Big Hugs Miss Peachy

michico*Adan*Lego-小芥*阿丹*樂高 said...

This is so sweet~!
Your grandpa sounds like the most kindest and mildest person in the whole world~! I am so happy to know about him~!
Michico also has some treasures, her mom passes away when she was 14. And she always says the most bigest treasure from her mom is her looking. Michico exactly looks like her mother.

Thanks for sharing this beautiful story!