When I was growing up my grandmother had a sewing box where she kept her buttons, thread, scissors, and assorted sewing supplies such as hooks and eyes and snaps.  I remember that box being all over the house.  Sometimes it was near her sewing machine in the upstairs bedroom.  Sometimes it was in the living room.  It even spent time in her bedroom.

I really liked looking at the buttons.  It was fun to sort them by color and by size.  Grandma did not mind if I played with them.  She had some buttons that looked like flowers.  I think they were left from one of her sewing projects.

What I refer to as “the sewing box” was really not a box at all.  It was a small piece of furniture with Queen Anne legs.  The top opened from both sides.

My husband-to-be’s Aunt Diedra had a bridal shower for me just before our wedding.  The  gift that took the cake at that event was the “sewing box”.  It had been refinished by my grandfather for me.  I found out at that time that this sewing box was a gift from Grandpa to Grandma when they got married fifty years ago.  That meant the sewing box would be 100 years old this spring.

I was happy to know the history of the little sewing cabinet.  Even though we were living in a trailer I found a spot for the sewing cabinet.  It stood in my living room and was filled with my sewing supplies.

By then I had a button box that I emptied into it.  I also added some scissors that Grandma gave meand a pair of shears that I received as a birthday gift that first year.  I was not a seamstress but I honed my sewing skills making a variety of things.  It was a challenge to see what I could get a out of a piece of material.   

Once I moved to Hickory Heights the sewing cabinet came along.  It has spent time in nearly every room in the house.  Right now it graces the corner of my living room.  It is filled with a variety of my sewing supplies that I keep handy for those small mending jobs such as sewing on buttons and mending seams.

Oh, that sewing cabinet is not really worth a lot of money but it has a lot of sentiment behind it.  Grandma and Grandpa have now been gone nearly forty years.  That special gift still holds a special place in my heart.  Each time i use something out of it I think of my grandparents since they both had a hand in that special shower gift.

Remembering that gift brought back so many memories.  As we move toward spring I think good thought about what was transpiring fifty years ago.

As we prepared for our wedding all was not peaceful at the farm.  I recall making a trip to the vet in Falconer for medicine for the cows.  They had the runs.  The barn was a mess.  Thankfully the medicine kicked in and the cows were fine by the time the big day arrived.  Isn’t it strange the things we remember?

In 1967 we married the Saturday before Easter.  Decorations for the reception were made by my kindergarten class.  My bridal bouquet was made of Easter lilies.  The reception was held in the church basement.  For years I moved around a cute little sign with lovebirds painted by my husband’s cousin Rita.  She fastened it on our car as we took off for our weekend honeymoon.

Now as I look at the wedding pictures there are so many people who are gone that it makes me feel sad.  With great expectations we began our life as a family.   

Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, PA.  Contact at hickoryheights1@verizon.net