Vintage Baby Clothes & A Walk Down Memory Lane

When I went home to my parents' house on Thursday, I brought back with me a bunch of my mother's fabric collection, some of her clothing, a small portion of her cassette collection, and some other odds and ends. We've been running around a lot lately. This was the first day in a while that I mostly stayed home. In the afternoon, I sorted through all of the containers I'd brought back. And what a walk down memory lane that was.

My little sister, who is doing the lion's share of everything lately, is the one who set aside many of these items for me. As I unpacked the PSU tote that was my mother's, I found photographs, items from my graduations, vintage baby clothes, and a hand-written copy of a thank-you letter that my mom wrote to my high school teachers at the point where I graduated from Penn State.

Here is a picture of one of the items of baby clothes. Now, I was born in December 1964. However, we had quite a few babies in the family before me, born in June of 1951 (Barb), May of 1953 (Marilyn), May of 1955 (Pat), and February of 1963 (Robin). Just one arrived after me: December 1968 (Julie).

I believe this piece of baby clothing was most likely originally for one of my older sisters, from the early 1950s. It was quite possibly/probably a hand-me-down that I may have worn somewhere along the line. But I would not have been the first one to wear it. Oh no.

My Grammy Carvell used to buy matching dresses for the first three girls, for photographs. I often joke that it seemed like I wore the same clothes for many years, when in fact, I was working my way through the hand-me-downs: I'd wear the Pat size for a year or two, the Marilyn size for another year or two, and then the Barb size. (You may think this is funny. Actually, I do too, in retrospect, though I didn't at the time!) 

Anyway, this is all to say that hand-me-downs were de riguer in a family the size of mine! Also, I don't remember my mother being much for embroidery, so I'm guessing that fancy stitching may have been done by one of my aunts, or by one of my mom's aunts. 

You may note the intricate embroidery on this item. Here is what it is: There are two kitties at the bottom, with a clever design allowing it to seem as though the kitties are playing with the strings on the clothing! The details are amazing.

The real find of the day, though, was the letter, which I will treasure. I never knew of its existence, never saw it, never read it, until this day. In it, my mother thanked my high school teachers for providing the framework and foundation upon which my successful Penn State academic career was built.

She thanked our high school principal, Mr. Baker (he had a daughter at Penn State living in South Halls, and Brooke invited me up to experience PSU for a weekend) and several specific teachers: Mr. Hart (math), Miss Cekovsky (English, to whom the letter was addressed), Mr. Weaver (English), and Mr. Clark (guidance counselor, who helped hook me up with the scholarship test that got me a full-tuition scholarship to Penn State).

One of the things that Miss Cekovsky had done as my senior year English teacher was to require that each student keep a daily journal, just a page, of things that happened that year. So one of her gifts to ME was that I have a record of the academic year 1981-1982, documenting all of the key things that happened to me then, including winning the scholarship to PSU!

Anyway, back to the letter. My mother's note was dated May 1986, and it was written a few days after I had graduated from Penn State. Mom gave it to my little sister Julie to give to Miss Cekovsky on Julie's last day of school. In it, Mom went on to share that she and my dad had had children in the Juniata County school system from 1957 through 1986, when Julie graduated. It was the end of an era.

It is always a strange gift to get to see yourself through someone else's eyes. My mother talked about how traumatic it had been for us when I left home to go away to school (an hour or so away, but it seemed SO FAR to this little country girl!). What a difficult adjustment it was. Both for her AND for me.

I remember phoning home on my second or third day at college - tearfully - and asking my parents to come get me and take me home. My mother refused; there was so much riding on this; so many hopes for me and for my future; a full-tuition scholarship! 

In her letter, though, she says that if I had ever called and asked to come home, they would have come right up and gotten me! (That's how she remembers it. One of her greatest gifts to me that day was saying NO. In fact, my whole future pretty much depended on it! Parents, take note!)

She painted a picture of me as a scholar, studious, committed, who was given the "red carpet treatment" at Penn State. And one who refused to come home to recuperate, even when I got a very bad case of mononucleosis in spring of 1983. She characterized me as an individual with a "fierce determination" to make it through. And I did. And continue to do so. (Also: in the future, any time I feel like I just can't, I'm going to remind myself: "fierce determination, girl; fierce determination!!!!")

Of course, I cried when I read her letter. But I also admired her beautiful penmanship, her perfect grammar and spelling and syntax, and the thankful soul that she had, and that she tried to cultivate in all of us kids. She did a thing that I hope we ALL do: she thanked some of the people who helped get me where I am today! I sure hope it brought smiles to their faces when they read it!

So, to wrap this up, here is a photo of some baby clothes, one of the many things I brought back with me. And it's all wrapped up in a story about my mother, and a letter, and my high school teachers, and gratitude. Thank you, Mom. Thank you for all of it. I love you so, and I will TRY to continue to cultivate a personal culture of gratitude, every single day.

My soundtrack song is Led Zeppelin, with Thank You.

Bonus links:
A picture of my mother
A photo of Mom and me
Family portrait :-)
The last Christmas we were all together
Family treasures
Family treasures, take 2