Remembering

Rick, Marilyn, John, Diane, and I spent Saturday afternoon at Grandma Whittaker's house. Because there is a potential buyer it's important that we start going through things to sort out what we want and to,sadly, dispose of the rest.

It was kind of quiet as we began to collect the things we had given her over the years. It made sense to do that first and then we can see what is left and determine who has an interest.

I came away with some items for both Tricia and Christina. I hope they are things that will be worth keeping.

Rick and I now have a few keepsakes that graced his parents home for so long. We have the barometer, a clock, a gold leaf of the Salt Lake Temple in a frame, and some book ends. I have an etched glass sectioned platter that they received as a wedding gift. Diane said she saw work like that done in Scotland and it's quite a unique piece. I wish I knew more about it. The most exciting thing to me was to get the "real" silverware. It is so beautiful and I'm putting it in the drawer and using it everyday. I know that years ago the thought was to bring it out only when you were serving guests, but the one I love the most sits across the table from me everyday. I had her patio furniture recovered several years ago so we have that as well. It hurts my heart to believe that you can spend a lifetime collecting things and find that they are items not necessarily wanted by anyone else.

As we were getting ready to leave Diane spotted two lovely figurines that Rick's previous wife Karen had hand painted. Rick is going to box them up and send a note with them to his daughter Leslie. We think we have a current address (his ex-wife won't confirm or deny). Our hope is that she responds in a positive way to his thoughtful gesture.