Souvenir
Souvenir It is oh so luxurious to the touch, oh so enticing to the eyes. The suaveness of it, the mauve melding with the fuchsianess of it entrances me even now. There is only one time I remember wearing it, yet I still love it today. I love the feeling as I run my fingers over it, the connection to the totally foreign world from which it comes. Let me go back to the beginning, to the occasion I bought it for and maybe the only time I have and will wear it. We were in China, specifically in Daqing, the oil capital of the country. This was the most eye-opening, significant trip I've ever taken. The juxtaposition of things that boggled my mind (like the oil museum) with the incredible culture (like the Forbidden city in Beijing) still fascinates me. We were in a very modern mall, trying to get the final details for my good friend's wedding. She had decided to have the wedding she had always wanted back in her homeland, and the dress code was pretty specific. (No bare shoulders o...
Grandma Mary Rose and Harry McDonald decided to combine their families together for Thanksgiving under one roof. I believe this tradition started in the late 70"s. The basement was set up like a restaurant with many tables, chairs, kids tables, chairs, kids playroom, 1 little bathroom, 1 bar, refrigerator that had all of the deserts and our favorite one little red practice piano. Yes we all drove the adults crazy with that piano. We can not forget the Beautiful display of all sorts of stuff for the auction. Everyone's name folded in a gold jar. We looked forward to Thanksgiving every year. We got along very well with the McDonald's. Grandma and Harry worked all year round to make it better every year. The stories live on. I remember conversations and everyone we had Thanksgiving with. You had to be a certain age to sit at bar play pool and even move up from the kids table. Grandma's cooking was awesome. After dinner all of us little kids would could wait for the auction. I can even remember who got what. Even if some of couldn't read the names we all excited calling them. We ran around house looking for the people who's names were called. We even turned it into a game show by shouting Hey come on down and pick your prize. Every year Thanksgiving got bigger with boyfriends girlfriends and many more people. Sometimes there were over 75 people. D and G Mastromarchi took over the tradition we are Thankful for that
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all these memories! I had forgotten about the piano!
DeleteThis is really wonderful, thanks for sharing! I have so many great memories of Thanksgiving at Grandmas but I had completely forgotten about the giveaways. I’ll never forget her little bead dolls. She had that glass display case on the wall, near the front door, full of her very best bead dolls.
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember the display case! I was always fascinated by the bead dolls.
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