When my aunt passed away in the late 90's the task of picking up her belongings from the facility she lived in fell to me. There weren't too many things to bring home as we told the folks who ran it to distribute her clothes to other residents who could use them. She also loved stuffed animals and those too were given away to bring some cheer. But her Bible, some family pictures and a little pouch of costume jewelry made its way to my home. I had intended to give them to my other aunt (her sister) but was told to keep them since I was her namesake (my middle name is Leslie after her). Most of the necklaces in the pouch are cheap plastic beads, but this one, is made of wood. I'm not sure how it ended up in her possession as I'm pretty sure she never went to Israel. Someone must have brought it to her as a gift. But I have been to Jerusalem so it's a fun keepsake for me to have. I took this shot at the photo shop a few weeks ago. I just added some texture and converted it to sepia today.
Thank you Bruni, Rob, Maggie, Dawn, Mave, Marilyn and Henri for stopping by and leaving a thought or two. Much appreciated!
@maggiemae I am fairly certain it must have been a gift. She was always intriguing to me. As a child I did not realize she had some major mental health issues. She was just interesting because she'd dye her hair crazy colors, wear VERY brightly flowered dresses and the aforementioned plastic beads and bright RED lipstick! Later on I learned from her sister that she was diagnosed at a very early age with bi-polar / manic depression (or whatever the acceptable term is now) and the up times were usually characterized by those bright colors and crazy hair colors. The down times were apparently very scary and my aunt felt threatened by her during them. When my grandmother could no longer manage to care for her my other aunt (my mother had passed away at a young age so missed out so to speak on all the decision making) insisted she go to a facility that was better prepared to handle the ups and downs- even regulate them if possible. She was actually very happy in that place so all in all it worked out ok. Thankfully I remember her most from my childhood before her mind and behavior became as intense as it was. So maybe not so much a mystery as it is bittersweet.
@grammyn I don't think it's a rosary. She belonged to the Episcopal Church and the beads aren't spaced out so you can touch them while you pray. But maybe they could be- after all if they did come from Jerusalem whoever brought them could very well have been Catholic.
December 3rd, 2018
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@bruni @robz @maggiemae @Dawn @mave @mittens @henrir
Thank you Bruni, Rob, Maggie, Dawn, Mave, Marilyn and Henri for stopping by and leaving a thought or two. Much appreciated!
@maggiemae I am fairly certain it must have been a gift. She was always intriguing to me. As a child I did not realize she had some major mental health issues. She was just interesting because she'd dye her hair crazy colors, wear VERY brightly flowered dresses and the aforementioned plastic beads and bright RED lipstick! Later on I learned from her sister that she was diagnosed at a very early age with bi-polar / manic depression (or whatever the acceptable term is now) and the up times were usually characterized by those bright colors and crazy hair colors. The down times were apparently very scary and my aunt felt threatened by her during them. When my grandmother could no longer manage to care for her my other aunt (my mother had passed away at a young age so missed out so to speak on all the decision making) insisted she go to a facility that was better prepared to handle the ups and downs- even regulate them if possible. She was actually very happy in that place so all in all it worked out ok. Thankfully I remember her most from my childhood before her mind and behavior became as intense as it was. So maybe not so much a mystery as it is bittersweet.
Thank you Katy, Wendy, and Kathy!
@grammyn I don't think it's a rosary. She belonged to the Episcopal Church and the beads aren't spaced out so you can touch them while you pray. But maybe they could be- after all if they did come from Jerusalem whoever brought them could very well have been Catholic.