Tiny Treasure

This wee silver inscribed perfume container belonged to my Aunt Julia, called Judy in her later years, who was my father's only sister. I didn't know her, as my father was alienated from his family  and never told me or my sisters anything about them. 

You can see Julia/Judy as a child, along with her father and her brother Ben, and read about the family in this earlier blip. In the extra photos, I've added a photo of Julia at the wheel of a car -- perhaps one of the first cars seen in Smithville, Missouri. 

That's my father in the left foreground, and the younger boy on the right, behind the windshield, is his brother Howard. Both of them committed suicide as adults -- Howard at age 37, leaving a three-year-old son (the cousin I visited in Boston last June) and my father at age 53, just before my 13th birthday. My sister E was 11 and my sister M was about to turn 5. 

When I was visiting my sister M in the Austin, Texas area a few months ago, we had the great pleasure of an afternoon with our Aunt Julia/Judy's granddaughter, J, who lives about a 40-minute drive away. In the past year, I've connected with several first cousins on my father's side, including J's father in Florida, and how wonderful it was to learn that his daughter lived in the same area as my sister! 

There was an instant bond between the three of us as we shared our stories and photos. J showed us a number of Aunt Judy's favorite things, which she had inherited. My sister and I were deeply moved by her generous request that we take whatever we wanted; we each chose several books (bibliophilia clearly runs in our family) and other small items. 

I've always loved tiny things and things made of silver, so this little perfume holder was my favorite. We don't know who gave it to Aunt Judy/Julia, but there must be a story about it, as "made in Mexico" (in Spanish) is engraved on the back.

It is truly tiny -- you can see it next to a United States quarter (25 cents) in the extras. (For those who want more precise information, it is 1-7/8 inches/4.76cm tall, 1-1/8 inches/2.86 cm wide, and 3/16 inches/0.48 cm deep.) The semi-precious stone-bedecked cap is attached to a slender metal rod that goes into the container and was used to dab perfume onto the skin. 

My Aunt Judy loved music and books, as do I. My white, wavy hair is very like hers. She died in 1988, at age 90; I wish we had been able to connect in person, but that was not to be. Being given these tangible treasures by her loving granddaughter J has been a great comfort, and being able to visit J every time I visit my sister is simply wonderful!

(Many thanks to KangaZu for the theme of "special memento" for TinyTuesday 191, which inspired me to write about mine.)

Blip 1995