A Toothpick and A Hanky

After Gramma Ellene passed, Grandpa John gave me some of her things. A hair dryer. Baskets. Books. Sea shells. Small pink quartz rocks. A blue suede jacket. That jacket has been hanging in my closet for some time. I never wore it. It is an attractive and very nice jacket. Just not my style and not really my size.

Today I was purging my closet and decided I should let go of the blue suede jacket. It seemed appropriate to at least try it on before sending it out of the house. In the right pocket I discovered a toothpick and a hankerchief that still smelled a little like her.

Gramma always had a hanky with her. Sometimes two. When she didn't use it for herself, a hanky was just the cure for any grandchild's or great grandchild's runny nose. She liked slightly fancy ones. She found a treasure load of hankies at a garage sale. As I recall, she paid about .10 each for them. Some might have even been a nickel. She was excited by this find and decided to share. I still have a few that she gave me.

Just as she always had a hanky she almost always had a toothpick. Both are so practical. When I found them in that pocket my first thought was, "Of course. What else would be in her pocket?"

And then I sniffed the handy.

Which didn't seem at all weird at the time. I just wanted to know if there was anything of her left. Maybe it was my imagination but it did seem to smell ever so faintly of her. I didn't cry. I was so happy that something was there.

I know that I will see her again someday, but I still miss her terribly. I will finish a project and want to show her. The kids will say or do something that I think would make her laugh. Mostly, I would like to hear her laugh and call me Brandi-girl.