I thought I had this post set to publish Wednesday at 6 a.m. Clearly, I did not. I hope it works on Thursday.
Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,
Most of us have safe places where we like to put important items. Then we can't remember where the safe places are.
One year Mother bought a blue girdle to give to my oldest sister for Christmas. She put it away somewhere. When it was time to wrap gifts, Mother wandered around saying, Where in the hell is that blue girdle?
She found it the following summer in an entropy-laden closet. She had looked for it there, but I think the blue girdle hid from her because Mother was as mean as a snake.
After my beloved Franklin died a couple of years ago, Dr. G and his staff sent me a nice sympathy card. Also in the envelope were Franklin's paw and nose print, and some of his soft, thick fur.
I appreciated their thoughtfulness so much.
I knew I would want to frame Franklin's paw and nose print with a photo of him in the future, but at the time, his death was so recent and my mourning so painful that I decided to put the special items in a safe place.
Months went by. I wanted to look into framing the items. So I went to get them from the safe place, which I was sure was a drawer in my dressing table.
They weren't there.
I checked the drawers in the wardrobe, because the wardrobe could be a safe place.
Nope.
The dresser drawers? It didn't make sense that they would be my safe place, but maybe . . . .
Nothing.
I asked Maureen (the dogs' Auntie Maureen) if she remembered what I had done with the precious Franklin items . She was here when the envelope arrived. Maureen suggested looking under the couch. Good idea. We were sitting on the couch when I opened the mail. If the things weren't under the couch, maybe they were stuck in the couch.
Zero.
Zip.
Nada.
I continued to search, on and off, checking every drawer and shelf in the house, until I was convinced the prints were gone. I must have accidentally thrown them in the trash.
Then a couple of months ago while I was cleaning up some stuff in the extra bedroom, my eyes rested on one of my filing cabinets and suddenly I knew the second drawer was the safe place.
I was so happy. It had only taken me two years to discover the safe place.
Now, how about you? Where's your safe place? Or safe places? Have you put something important in your safe place and then not been able to find it?
I hope you didn't lose my oldest sister's blue girdle.
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug
P.S. Years later I mentioned the missing blue girdle and no one else in the family remembered it. They thought I was out of my mind. I am out of my mind, but that doesn't mean there wasn't a blue girdle.
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| He loved asking, Can I drive you to the store, Miss Daisy Jane? |
So glad you're ready to frame such a beautiful memory. Well, actually you've been ready for 2 years! Yes, I have safe places and when something isn't there I keep going back, convinced it is, it must be, even though I know it's not.
ReplyDeleteWe are perfectly sane just very good at keeping things safe.
Girdle here means corset. Is that what your mum bought?!
No. A girdle in the US is an ugly, constricting undergarment that women used to wear instead of panties. It was intended to hold bellies and butts in place. Mother always wore a girdle. Most of my older sisters probably wore them, too, when they were younger. Even women who were slim wore girdles. A corset here is called a corset, or there used to be a somewhat smaller version of a corset called a merry widow. Slender women also wore the merry widow. I am thankful to have been born when all those devices were no longer considered a requirement. I almost always wear cotton granny panties and sports bras.
DeleteI don't think I have a safe place ... the top drawer of my dresser will do.
ReplyDeletexoxo
I wonder if safe places are more of a thing for women. We are nesters. Maybe that includes a tendency to secrete things we hold dear.
DeleteAny girdle I ever saw back in the day when women still wore them was good, god-fearing WHITE, or at most, maybe BEIGE. But a BLUE girdle -- that's just plain old KINKY. I'm surprised at your Mom and at your sister, too, assuming she had specified wanting either a girdle or that specific colour.
ReplyDeleteMother's girdles were always white. I can't imagine that my sister wanted a girdle of any color, but Mother wanted her to wear a girdle. Mother worked at Macy's in the lingerie department, which was not wild and crazy lingerie. You weren't going to find any crotchless panties there. Most likely the girdle was a good brand that went on sale so Mother snatched it up with her employee discount and told herself Oldest Sister wanted the girdle and it would be good for her to have it. Mother insisted I liked underwire bras no matter how many times I told her I hated them.
DeleteMy husband had a safe place and I thought I knew where it was--until after he died and I needed to find his birth certificate in order to apply for a Survivor's Benefit. I looked in the supposed safe place. Other important papers were there, but the BC wasn't. I couldn't send off the forms without a scanned copy of the BC. Months went by. Meanwhile I wasn't getting money I could have used! Many months later I wasn't ready to donate his clothes yet, but I decided to clean out his underwear drawer. I figured no one wanted used underwear. And that is where the BC was hiding, in its own wooden box, neatly hidden away.
DeleteOh, my goodness, Barbara! How frustrating that must have been. When I help clients whose spouses have died, I always tell them how sorry I am that they have to deal with paperwork during a time when they don't want to do anything except grieve.
DeleteFrustrating, yes! Inconvenient, yes! But also kind of funny, in retrospect. M was extremely well organized and I knew he had put it in a safe place. I felt that he was letting me know he was still around, making me laugh.
DeleteI'm glad you could laugh about it.
DeleteI have no specified place that is a safe space, but I should. I put things where they are supposed to be out of sight thinking I will remember where they are. Yeah, rarely happens that I remember. Currently I am trying to remember where I stashed a mustard yellow clutch purse. I've looked everywhere except for the place I conveniently put it.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably gone to live with the mustard-yellow shoes I had, one of which made an appearance in my blog post 2 days ago because it was used to kill the palmetto bug. I have no idea where those shoes went, but they aren't in my closet now.
DeleteMy safe place is generally in the arms of a beefy south American named Adriano!
ReplyDeleteAnd i adore the new pup!
Only you, Mads. I'm glad you're back. Give Adriano a little extra squeeze from me. Everything is baby steps with Alice.
DeleteI have a basket on my bar counter and a small pile of "important" papers. (junk mostly--but stuff I'm not ready to get rid of) I have issues locating repair items I know I've bought (those fuzzy circles for the bottoms of chairs for example) Are they in the hall closet? Under the sink? Sometimes I give up and rebuy them. There are probably hundreds in my house right now. I'm glad you found the paw prints!
ReplyDeleteHahahaha! I sometimes give up and rebuy things, too. You can't spend the rest of your life looking.
DeleteI'm too much of a clutter bug to have a safe place. I'd misplace it somehow. Now I will admit that if I had a safe place for girdles, bras and anything other than granny panties, it would be a dumpster.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on girdles and most bras. I bought some spanx "shapewear" a number of years ago. It ended up in the garbage. It was so uncomfortable and the undies were difficult to pull down when I needed to pee. Nothing should get between an older woman and the toilet.
DeleteSpanx! Ugh! I couldn't get mine up pass my knees. I hope Goodwill found a needy less fat person to sell them to.
DeleteSpanx is awful. Skims is worse because it's owned by Kim Kardastrophe.
DeleteBeautiful memory. ❤️
ReplyDeleteMy Franklin was a darling boy. He was also a blogger.
DeleteSo glad you found them!
ReplyDeleteI had a saver drawer but haven't found where the contents were packed yet--lol! I started a "saver" basket in the meantime. I also have a small file cabinet...as yet not unearthed, either. All has gone in the basket since I moved. LOL!
It will turn up. You keep going through stuff and you'll be surprised and delighted when you find what you want and need.
DeleteI do have a safe place drawer. It is not very deep so I keep important things there-health care cards, passport, etc. Love the blue girdle story and while others might not remember it the question is...why would you make THAT up? lol. Happy Friday, Janie girl! xo Diana
ReplyDeleteThank you! Who imagines a blue girdle? Hope you have a good weekend.
DeleteI'm so glad you found Franklin's items! ♥ Funny story about the blue girdle. I'm always putting stuff in a safe place and then forget where that is. Most things do turn up eventually.
ReplyDeleteI was afraid I had thrown Franklin's prints in the trash by accident because on the day they arrived, I also opened quite a few other packages and enevelopes so some things went in recycling and some in the trash.
Delete