My grandmother, Bess Zach, started a thimble collection many years ago. She had several wooden stands where she displayed them in her living-room on a farm near Rowley, Iowa.
She put small papers inside each one to identify who gave them to her and when. I have copied this practice but in a move we made a few years back some of the papers fell out and so not all of them are identifiable today.
But this one is obvious and as today is Mother's Day, 2012, it's a perfect start for my blog.
A few thoughts on Iowa.
I have to laugh when I remember how the famous Iowan writer Bill Bryson wrote, 'I come from Des Moines. Someone had to.' Cedar Rapids is even smaller so someone had to come from there too I suppose.
Another laugh I had several years ago was when a student told me she had learned English 'in the boondocks - Cedar Rapids, Iowa'. I then told her I was born 'in the boondocks'.
But joking aside, for me Iowa was paradise.
We moved away from there when I was 6 years old and it was always my lost paradise. We went back to visit many times and my grandparent's home was the one that was always there for us. Going back to Iowa was a constant and remained a special place for my brothers and me all our lives.
To this day my memories are warm: pheasants alongside the road, soft rains and green fields, pigs and corn, feeding the chickens with my grandmother.
There are the cold memories too: my brothers and cousins making snow tunnels in the four foot high snow, freezing as I walked to the park to ice skate and never putting on the skates because it was so cold and returning home.
Then there are the Czech heritage memories of kolaches, and rolickies and all those goodies we loved so much, visiting all our relatives and talking to them in their gardens and living-rooms.
So Iowa is and will remain paradise to me: childhood, family and fun.
And I dedicate this blog to my Iowa heritage and Grandma and Mom.
And to my children for encouraging me to do a blog about the thimbles I have collected over the years.
Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.
Glad to see the thimble from Iowa. Will try to get you one from Czech Village in Cedar Rapids. Coe Molumby
ReplyDeleteThat would be great, thanks Coe!
DeleteIt's amazing how a simple object like a thimble can bring back so many beautiful memories. Can't wait for the next post!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing, isn't it? They are like the props in movies which symbolize the whole theme of the story! That's how important a simple object can be. Thanks for the observation.
DeleteSherry, this blog is great! I love it! Thank You for sharing. You definitely are a talented writer. I'm looking forward to your next update. Your cuz, Norma Estes Maynes
ReplyDeleteThanks for your encouragement! I do love writing! And my cousins too!
DeleteIt's so good to hear from you Sherry, and good to hear about the kids, whom I remember with affection. I will tell you that after knowing you for so many years (40), I'm just learning now that you were born in Iowa. I thought you were born in Stillwater Oklahoma. I was in Paris (alone) when I was 20, and I loved it. I can't say the same for the Parisians. No one wanted to help me make a phone call to London from a pay phone (I had the money). Only a black gentleman, probably from one of the old French colonies stopped to help me. In any case, I want to go back with Carmen. We have driven through France at least 30 times, but never gone back to Paris.
ReplyDeleteAbout the thimbles collection I will say that the little object is a part of my life as well. I think my mother (92) still has one or two which must be almost 70 years old. My father was a tailor, and she worked with him. I remember that at times I used to "help" sewing, and that I pinched my fingers if I didn't have that dear thimble. So it made its way in one of my poems that I will try to paste here. This info will allow you to comprehend the poem a bit better. Sorry for your readers who do not know Spanish.
Sorry Sherry, I can't paste it. There must be a way, but I'm really bad at using computers. It is too long to type here, and also it takes me forever. I type with only one finger.
Un abrazo,
Tony
I didn't know your father was a tailor either. The thimble would have been a big part of their lives and yours too. It's a wonderful little invention!
DeleteThanks for your comments!