Saturday 21 June 2008

clippings

When I was growing up, my great-aunt would send my mother envelopes stuffed with crossword puzzles cut out from the local paper. My mom always loved to do crosswords (she and my grandfather share that hobby) and I think the care packages may have started when she was away at college and continued on through marriage, two kids, subsequent moves, etc. Every so often there'd be an explosion of half-done crosswords around the house - a few in the kitchen, a few next to Mom's chair, some tucked up by her bed, and even a couple set carefully with a pen on the back of the toilet.

Those are actually the first crosswords I remember peering at, trying to puzzle out the rare spots my mother had left undone, racking my brain for an answer while my brother beat on the door and howled that I was taking too long and he needed to go nooowwwwww....

After Bertie died, a fluke in the mail delivered one last envelope addressed in her tiny careful printing, the folder heavy and full,with even a brief note for my mom to treasure among the newstype.

It always seemed like such a loving thing to me. Great Aunt Bertie subscribed to the Louisville Courier-Journal daily, my mother lived far away, why not send them if they would be enjoyed?

And they were.

Last week I found an email in my in-box from my grandmother, (who is bravely learning all this computer mumbo-jumbo so she can keep up with her far-flung grandchildren) telling me that some books were coming for the children. Yesterday a beautifully illustrated book of children's bible stories came, with the notation inside that this book had once belonged to my great-uncle Louie (and then my grandmother) and...a clipping about helping your children learn to read.

A clipping from the Courier-Journal.



Sometimes it doesn't take much to let us know we're treasured.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I used to finish my mother's puzzles too, and eventually, she would just sit in her chair and ask what a nine letter word for whatever was. It was practically a comedy routine.

Anonymous said...

My grandmother does the same thing -- she sends my girls the weekly installments of a serial story that's been running for months.

Anonymous said...

This is such a cool post! I find myself trying to do the last few words of crossword puzzles that the guys at work work on daily in the Gulfport/Biloxi Sun Herald and the Times-Picayune from New Orleans. Once in awhile I come up with a word to help out.

Christy said...

That is such a sweet story!

I'm a big New York Times crossword fan now....

But my mom started me too, on the Louisville Courier Journal AND mailed them to me at Western Kentucky University....

It's a small world.

What's a 9 letter word for "small world"....

Woman in a Window said...

Treasures from the treasured. Another reason why I've set my dusting cloth down, AGAIN, to come here. You see these things as treasures. You recognize these people as treasures. I feel like I've just eaten a fresh piece of country pie, coming here...

Unknown said...

I used to love doing crosswords with my grandad, your post reminded me of the times I'd sit in their porch area trying to finish the puzzles he couldn't manage.

Suzanne said...

Precious. It was a lovely give from your grandmother and a butterfly kiss from Aunt Bertie.

TSintheC said...

How lovely. This is such a sweet post -

Stomper Girl said...

That is a lovely story. Fixit's Mum saves crosswords and sudokus for Fixit. Because they read the lowbrow Melbourne newspaper and we read the high-brow one.

Sarah Louise said...

I'm a first generation crossword puzzler. And I don't get the paper right now. But when I lived in VA and worked at the bookstore, a co-worker and I worked tandem on our lunches.

Also, my father has been my "clipping service" ever since I can remember. I sort of miss that now he emails them instead of mailing them. The longer I live, the more I think I'm a librarian because of him. Because he would have made an excellent librarian.

Okay, and I just failed the vw...

Pam said...

This is such a lovely story. I can't say my great-aunts or indeed my aunts ever gave me a thought, but I had nice grandparents and I'm sure they'd have done something like that if we hadn't lived just down the road.

Magpie said...

i love that. i love getting things in the mail, and sending them in the mail.

'cause it's tangible.

Vanessa said...

Care packages like that are the best! What a wonderful grandmother.

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