Time Capsule

I'm actually in town this morning so I figured I would turn on a computer.
Where have I been? Unplugged, for one thing.

It's really one of the many wonderful perks of having a "dumb phone" that I am not connected all of the time. Yes, that is a perk. If you don't think it is you need to put your phone down.

The kids and I have been foot loose and fancy free this summer. We went back to the beach and then straight to my parents' house. I could bore you with a summary blog post, but why? It was fun. The beach was perfect. Both kids got to go in the kayak. We did a lot of swimming in the gulf. And I gained 8 pounds due to trading work outs for eating ice cream. Worth it. I'll get back in the grind when school starts.

My parents are working to get their house on the market so we spent time in Beaumont trying to help sort through more than thirty years of accumulated things. I'll be honest, it's mainly books. They should jump into the Dewey Decimal System and start a beach library when they move. They could run it out of their house and probably make a fortune on late fees. Or charge membership. They really have that many books.

We went through old photographs, and attic boxes (oh the never ending Coke collection!), and Gran's linens (yes, please!), and Rush family jewelry. Actually we didn't go through the jewelry I just took it home to look through with Kelly. I think when I see her next I should be wearing every single piece, including all five of Pop's police badges.

Wait, didn't I just promise I wasn't going to summarize? Ah!

All of that is to get to this: I brought home Carolena's old rocking chair. No, not Carolena number three. Carolena number ONE. It's old. And fabulous. And the best little rocking chair that ever was.

How old is that wonderful thing? Like 100?

When I picked it up to bring it downstairs the seat cushion fell off and revealed a torn bottom. Upon closer inspection my mother and I realized it was filled with straw and fabric. *Note to self for reconstruction purposes: straw and fabric are incredibly comfortable rocking chair fillers*

"What if there's money tucked away in there?" my Treasure House mother said.
I gave her a skeptical look.
She shot me a mother look that I know very well from both her face and now my own and replied, "That's what people did. I'm serious. When you take this apart be careful and look for hidden money or family jewels."
"Mom, I don't think we're that kind of family" I replied.

A few hours later I was home and all of my new/old belongings were lovingly put away and on display. I decided to tackle the chair bottom and see what mystery was really inside.

Jewels? Money? Valuable family heirlooms?

No, a time warp to the Great Depression. Or perhaps the start of WWII?

Clearly a woman leading a life so different from my own (and yet so similar?) needed to add stuffing to the caving seat of the rocking chair and looked to her own home. I pulled out about eight pairs of antique undergarments, a small blouse jacket, and an entire dress. All of these things were torn. The tears didn't look like the tears of wear (expect for a few places on the dress), but looked to me like tears from being washed during a time with no "gentle cycle" to do all of the work.

It was astonishing. At first I started to laugh. Who stuffs a chair with old underwear?!

And then I realized who does that: people who had nothing else to stuff in there.

And I was humbled. And stood in the middle of our modern day opulence holding the torn dress turned chair stuffing of my namesake great-grandmother.

Generations of babies have now been rocked on that chair. I think it is safe to assume that my dad snuggled up on a lap in that rocking chair a time or two. I'm sure I did. I am positive that my own children have snuggled and rocked on top of the original Carolena's old clothes.

I don't know what I'll use to reconstruct the seat of the rocking chair. Whatever modern convenience I use I'm sure it be it will somehow be less comfortable than Carolena's old clothes. I plan to wash a piece of it and put it back in. I like the thought of generations to come continuing to soothe their babies on the tangible memories of our family.