“K” is for “Keepsakes”
By Phyllis Knox
This blog is part of a very special series created and written by Phyllis Knox, “Alphabetic Musings”, whereby she chooses a word starting with a particular letter from the alphabet and injects it with her storytelling magic.
According to the on-line Cambridge Dictionary site, a keepsake “is something that helps you remember a person, place or occasion.” There is something special about this word, a word that sounds a little old-fashioned, and which we don’t use every day, but which is a part of so many of our lives. Keepsakes connect us to other people, places, times, events; for some of us with a lot to remember, keepsakes can take up a lot of space!
As I sit in my home office today, at my ‘youthful’ age of 74, I can’t help but ask myself the one-word question, “Why?”. Why did I buy and collect and keep so much? Why didn’t I decide that, at some point, enough was enough? What was I thinking?
I remember one of my sisters asking me this particular question. She looked at me in dismay (I did not recognize the full meaning or the extent of the meaning of her question nor her (obvious) grimace at the time, EH!) and said,”How many dollhouses are you planning on collecting?” There were no limits, I thought to myself (but, did not share that decision with my sister…) As long as I had some space (or even a little), I would continue ‘accepting’ as many dollhouses as was possible.
My ‘possible’ was perhaps not everyone else’s ‘possible’. Somebody would just mention Vermont” – as, in “Let’s take a trip down to Vermont for the weekend!” – and I thought of miniature dollhouses and miniature furniture; I would be going down to the world-capital of all things miniature! It would be a ‘crazy’ expedition to procure more ‘stuff.” And of course, I once believed that everything that I owned would eventually become ‘stuff’ but, that everybody else owned ‘junk’. I planned what I would have to buy in order to display my many (uh…10) houses: miniature tables, shelves, cabinets...you name it!!! There were really no limits and as time went on, I was pretty proud of the collection. I thought everybody would see the beauty of the tiny buildings, but sadly that didn’t really turn out to be the case. Friends, neighbours and family members, both young and old, usually just looked at the scene and said…NOTHING! Nothing at all. With time, I realized that not everyone had the will nor the interest nor the time to devote to such a hobby. Now, I get it! – But it took some 35 years to finally give up my collection. It became clear that my daughters, and then my granddaughters, were NOT at all interested in any of my miniature ‘stuff”. As my brothers’ and sisters’ grandchildren came to visit, I had “prepared” boxes/gifts for the kids to take home with them (I was quite generous at that moment, if you know what I mean?) I gave them part of my collection – something special as a keepsake from and memory of Aunt Phyllis – and as it was gleefully handed over, the parents didn’t look so happy, EH! Today, I live almost miniature-house-free!
I think that collecting things or stuff or keepsakes can be really enjoyable and a satisfying way to remember and keep our loved ones close. It’s a lot of fun but, yes, there is a “but”! Just as some people get themselves buried in junk, I became overwhelmed with my mementos of times and places gone by (I am using the ‘past’ tense while hoping that over-shopping for ‘stuff’ has stopped, EH?) Keepsakes mean something special to both the giver and to the receiver, that is a given! But here I stop and ask you, the reader, a few questions about keepsakes. Whose memory is important enough to keep his or her memory alive in your dwelling like, forever? What do you keep? Where do you put the special object: on your dresser, out of sight in a drawer, or in a special box? When do you let go of the object? Why, keep it (or them, in my case)? These questions can help us understand and appreciate our keepsakes better, perhaps.
I still have a small green and gold flag with the words “St. Pat’s” written across it from 1962… if I can count right that is some 60+ years, OMG! I can never let it go – for it represents some of the best friends I ever had and the best years of my life! Another thing I can never let go of is a very special collection of memories of my dear mother: a straw hat, a t-shirt, a pair of earrings, a painting of hers, a framed picture of her as a three-year-old and another of her and my Dad at their 50th wedding anniversary as well as two metal boxes that she painted. They stand in honour of the down-to-earth and wonderful people both my parents were.
Earlier, I mentioned that I was almost miniature-house-free. I must admit to the truth at this point, EH! I still have four (yes, 4) tiny Christmas scenes set up in a cabinet just 10 feet away from the desk that I am working at as I type these very words! They are mementos of years of collecting tiny, little objects related to Christmas: trees and a Santa, houses, a church, a railroad track, benches, street lights and of course, little miniature people. I devoted many hours and a lot of energy towards this particular collection of mine, but I regret not a single minute! The time spent was so rewarding!
Oh, there’s this other, different collection…um, have I mentioned the six (yes, 6) wicker (non-matching) chairs that I have procured through the years? If I’m honest with myself, they have taken up an inordinate amount of space within my space (and it’s true, I have always felt a little dizzy when I have sat on them and tried to rock – just never comfortable!!). Now these will be at the garage sale and I do hope that they attract some attention to find a new home and a new owner who likes rocking!
Now, if only I had stopped there, but no! It didn’t matter where I travelled to and for whatever reason I was there, I had to buy more “things’...always...I wanted to have a keepsake from and for every place I loved. What for? Oh, for the sake of keeping. So, I visited souvenir shops (just to see) and bought & bought...Somehow, I was attracted to candles of all descriptions too! (Some are so pretty that I have never lit them – you know the kind!) Then, there are the cowbells bought in Germany, a couple of miniature Eiffel Towers in Paris, a hand-carved mirror from Venice, Italia, miniature rocking horses found in Switzerland, wooden ducks & geese brought home while visiting the Rockies and why not the souvenirs from Eastern Canada, and the innumerable ‘things of all kinds’ brought back from New England and the list goes on and on.
In the entrance way to my home, I once found the perfect spot (which 15 years later, is still the perfect spot) to display my shell memorabilia (picked from the sands of the beaches near Lunenburg, N.S.) and to hang three small paintings (bought at a Halifax museum) two of which depict clippers at sea and as to be expected from a down-homer, a painting of the Bluenose Schooner. I can never ever for any reason whatsoever let go of those fond memories, but I’m aware that the keepsakes and the objects representing other places and times will probably have to eventually find another home...perhaps a beach home would be perfect, EH!
Oh – and what about garage sales? They can be dangerous, especially for collectors! I have never ever shied away from garage sales – where I could suddenly find a whole big bunch of stuff that I did not know that I needed but that I suddenly knew that I had to have, EH! All joking aside, recently, I found out about a special day that is being with the help of Case MCQ as a way of helping families of children who have been diagnosed with cancer within our region. This day-long event is being planned by teachers, principals, students, parents (and grandparents) and volunteers who wish to work together to plan a day of fun and activities. Mauricie English Elementary School (MEES) and the Three Rivers Academy (TRA) are working together as a unit. The goal is to collect donations for the regional chapter of the childhood cancer society called LEUCAN. Well, “Terrific”, I said to myself. Here is a win/win opportunity for me to donate and to de-clutter all at the same time! The planners are having a garage sale as one of the ‘events’...I could not be happier, maybe I can make somebody else happy with my almost-give-away prices and I end up getting my living space back in my home, in return.! And so it is that my home office is now full to the rafters with boxes...can’t win, EH!! In a month’s time, I will work at a table at the Case for Life event. I will set up my garage sale table to show my collections at their best. My greatest hope, I believe, is that another person loves the ‘things/objects/keepsakes’ as much as I still do, but which the time has come for me to let go of! Almost forgot to mention, but I am including about one third of my indoor and outdoor Christmas decorations in the garage sale/(almost) give-away...may they light up someone else’s porch and living room!
P. S. Though I am moving on, I can only hope that I don’t continue on the former path of constantly adding to what I am keeping as Keepsakes, EH? Only time will tell, I guess. For now, I am holding on to my most important objects and displays. These are: my bird houses (of which there are many!); my tea pots; my miniature Easter village; my First Nations collection of artifacts; my numerous Christmas decorations ( just can’t let go of those just yet); my high school memorabilia; my family pictures and my wedding and baby albums; plus books, and stuff from the kids and grandkids – all drawings and paintings which were made by my then- grade-school-grandchildren (their “works’ are proudly put into five separate albums...which NOBODY, not even the kids, is interested in looking at) as well as all objects which they gave me that they themselves produced during school creative classes or on weekends with me (glass cups with their finger prints painted on them etc). How lucky I have been to have had beautiful, happy memories surrounding me (in my small home) as I remember people, places and things that have come (and sometimes, gone) throughout my life.
So it is, that in closing my blog post this fine spring afternoon, I think of the words of the greatest of all British playwrights (in my opinion), William Shakespeare, England’s National Poet (1564-1616).
In his great play “Hamlet,” his main character, Hamlet, ponders existential dilemmas we all face in our lives. To paraphrase the great bard and adapt him to today’s subject: ‘To keep the keepsakes or not to keep the keepsakes, that is the question: To sleep, perchance to dream that most of them (the many collections of the items/the keepsakes) will soon be gone, or do they stay? That is the question!”
“Catch you later”, as the Brits across the Pond would say, and that we, Canadians, would then add...”EH!” to. Phyllis K.
