sacred objects...

30 days of thanks...gratitude for memories of a life fully lived...

rochambeau recently asked...what are your sacred objects?

the thought of this, the looking deeply around myself ~ what an experience, to count one's blessings like this!

so many beautiful memories rose to the surface as i pondered...

what a journey filled with joy...

i did not need to look very hard for the first...my wedding band (just like rochambeau!)...the meaning behind this simple piece of jewelry (the one i always wear)...promises of an endless love that circle round the two of us each & every day...

my momma's chapel veil & First Communion rosary & my grandpa's childhood prayerbook...they passed their faith to me, so lovingly...i cherish them...

my daddy's wedding band...i also wear it now that he is gone from here...it was always on his finger my entire life...his devotion to my momma also an endless circle of love & a beautiful example to me...

my daddy's binoculars...what did he see when he held them to his eyes? the world was full of wonder for him & every time i look through them i hope to have clarity... a handful of love notes my daddy wrote to momma when he was stationed in the territory of alaska while she remained in pennsylvania...the sweetness of new love & the longing across the miles...

my daddy's last birthday card to my momma...he was so very ill, nearing death...he called me & asked what he should do...he had never, ever not given momma a card, but going out to buy one was out of the question...i suggested he make a card...he just said, "oh"...& i found that card while going through my momma's treasured items after her death...

another treasure...a silk red & gold scarf that made the journey with my great-great grandfather from ireland to the US...

3 quilts, made by my daddy's momma...from scraps of their depression-era life...pieces of shirts, dresses, pants, & things unknown...a patchwork of life, each stitch a story of ordinary days laid out in a pattern of homemade love...

more notes...just a sampling of them...hand-created by each of my dear children for a myriad of occasions...i cannot part with their sweet expressions of love...& thus i tuck them in books all about the house...only to find on a day when i least expect it & most need it...

a sweet, delicate bracelet threaded with my birthstone...the second birthday gift given to me from my birth mother, J. (the first gift she gave was life!)...after a very long stretch of years, we finally celebrated together last year!...

small & tall...2 delicate pieces, one from each grandmother...the limoge pitcher from daddy's momma & the other from momma's momma...her "little girl" cup...

a heartfelt gift...filled with sentiment...so very treasured...a gift from my D., made from a find on our beach...my very favorite necklace charm...

another note...the kind that requires a tissue with every read...found at the very bottom of my momma's valuable papers...she was not a lady of letters, for sure...but she knew that i would find & treasure her simple reassurance when she was gone from here...

& finally...17 red roses that washed up on our beach & into my arms 2 days before last Christmas...that story will have to be another post, i promise...

my sacred objects...each & every one of them lead back to the people i love so dearly!

what are your sacred objects?