Pixies Place Forums - View Single Post - Most Prized Possession?

Since maddy asked, here was my "short answer" response to the question on my application.....

When I was a little girl, I grew up hearing stories about my great-great grandparents and their journey to America aboard a boat from Ireland. This small family, carrying only a few of their most prized possessions, aspired to a new life in the “promised land." My great grandmother (Mamaw) would tell the story with pride and happiness, describing her voyage as a young girl on this ship. Occasionally, a slip of her mother’s brogue or a Gaelic word would be interjected, making the story much more real.

The family heirloom Mamaw valued most was a cherry wood dressing table, with an attached silver mirror and a beautiful little wooden chair with silk upholstery. Mamaw used the dressing table to keep all of her makeup and jewelry. I have fond memories of her sitting at that dressing table “putting on her face” in the morning, often telling me a story or (as I got older) asking me about school. At night, after my great grandparents were tucked into bed, I would go into their room and sit on the dressing table’s matching chair and recite lines of poetry or silly little stories that I would invent for their nighttime pleasure. Some of these stories were pretty fanciful and funny, and they often elicited gales of laughter from under my grandparents’ covers. The imagination of children is boundless, and I was no exception.

My great grandparents and my mother were the closest thing I had to a stable family unit as I grew up. My parents were divorced when I was 5, and my father moved away when I was 8 to live in Texas. I saw him only twice before he died when I was 12. My mother and I went to my great grandparents’ house every weekend; we ate Mamaw’s overdone pot roast and thick creamed peas, played hours of gin rummy, and told many stories. Mamaw always made us welcome and devoted so much time and energy to nurturing me into becoming a fine young lady. I learned how to love unconditionally from my great grandparents, through being included in their circle of love.

Now the dressing table sits in the first house I’ve ever owned. Sometimes I can almost feel my Mamaw’s presence as I dust it, or open one of the drawers. I can picture her sitting in front of the mirror, smiling back at me. The memories are always happy; they connect me to my heritage and my childhood, in a more positive way than any other possession.