Something I'll Always Treasure

Have you ever been so busy in your life that you have forgotten something that you really wanted to do? Well, that happened to me just recently!
I became so busy with my Foundation work at Christmastime that I totally forgot to share with you all, a very special package that came to me in the mail right before Christmas.
My great aunt, Edith, is my grandfather's sister and only sibling. She lives in Texas and since my mother passed away, we talk everyday. She happened to tell me one day, a couple of weeks before Christmas that she was going to send me an old fashion Christmas. She said it was what they use to do in the olden days when there was no money to go out and buy anything. I wasn't sure just what she meant by that until I opened the box up and was greeted by this little guy!

Isn't he just the cutest little thing! She had mentioned that she was making something for me and wasn't sure if her hands would keep working long enough to get it finished. I am so thankful that they did! I named him Edee Elf after Aunt Edith because that is the name that my Grandfather called her.

Next, there were these adorable little crocheted stockings. In each stocking was a gift or two, ever so carefully wrapped up in pink tissue paper.

The largest stocking held this old silver butter knife that belonged to my great, great grandmother back in the 1800's. Aunt Edith told me that it was the knife that they use to cut all the butter with.

The best part of it all, was that it was inscribed with her initials ~ SCW ~ which stood for Sallie Coulter Wulf. At this point I was in tears...and that wasn't all!

 Inside the middle size stocking were these three beautiful rings. The two on each end were made by my grandfather and bore his and Aunt Edith's initials. He had made them years back before he had married. The middle ring was made by my great grandfather, the father of my grandmother. He had made it for Aunt Edith and inscribed her initials in the front. Even thouhg it is hard to see, it is beautiful!

In the smallest stocking were these priceless gems that every quilter dreams of inheriting. The thimble belonged to my great grandmother, Grandpa's and Edith's mother. This is the thimble that she used everyday and while designing dresses for Neiman Marcus. You can see by the holes in it, that it got a lot of wear. Aunt Edith told me that the buttons also belonged to her mother and were probably off of her wedding dress, as she kept them in a very special place, separate from all of her other buttons.

Oh, my goodness! And then to top it off, in the bottom of the box was this most gorgeous lapel pin. This pin has quite a story! Aunt Edith said that her mom wore this pin everyday of her life and one day it came up missing. She had been out hanging the laundry on the line when it disappeared. Four years later, when Aunt Edith was 11 years old, her mom asked her to go out and pick asparagus along the ditch bank. She just happened to look down as something caught her eye and to her amazement, there was her mother's long lost pin.

But! I have to tell you, the thing that meant the most to me was the last thing I pulled out of the box. It was a beautifully carved, wooden picture frame from right around 1900. It held the best gift of all!

That gift was pictures of my great grandfather and grandmother, my Grandfather's mom and dad. At this point I was in full tears! I couldn't believe what I was looking at! Their sweet faces warmed my heart!

What a beautiful young woman my great grandmother was and what a SWEET great aunt I have. I will always remember and treasure that day in my life, and thank Aunt Edith for teaching me, what is means to have on old fashion Christmas!