Ma Mere

Today's clouds:Today's clouds: Cumulus fractus; cumulus humilis (fair weather clouds)

I'm not going to write about my thoughts on the economy anymore. It's too huge and confusing and it's making me very ill. I have "great depression" images stuck in my head and it's just adding to my current state anxiety about being unemployed.

Speaking of the Great Depression reminds me of my maternal grandmother (ma mere as we called her, and yes, I know "ma mere" means "my mother" but that's what we called her). When she was young woman during the Great Depression people were very frugal and never threw away useful things. It was a completely different culture when one compares it to the consumer culture of today. There was very little trash that got thrown away. Many things had a second and third life, and every penny was saved.

When I was a little girl she still clung to the depression era values. She recycled and saved everything because, "You just don't know when you might need it" she would say . I loved looking through her pantry, it was a menagerie of jars, paper, buttons, balls of string and elastics and other odd findings that she stashed away. Included in her stash were styrofoam meat trays which, to me, didn't have any good use but she saved them anyway. Oh, back in the 60' and 70's we didn't eat a lot of meat. Meat was used like a condement; it was added to food as flavoring as in soups and stews. Meat was also "stretched" as it were in order to feed my mothers hungry brood of Catholic children. Meatloaf and organ meats were the order of the day. I don't think I saw a steak until I was 15. There were too many mouths to feed. Meat was expensive back then and we were lucky to have meat three times a week.

Anyway, those styrofoam trays didn't seem useful at first but she would wash them and save them anyway. I had a bit of my grandmother in me because I loved collecting items. I collected found objects and she even encouraged me. She suggested that I should use those trays to sort my little treasures. I know they were useless items but I hoarded shells, skelletal crabs, crab claws, starfish, pebbles of different colors, dried-out seaweed and beach glass. I loved the beach and nature and I collected everything and anything I thought was pretty and interesting. I used those trays my grandmother saved to sort and save my found objects. I kept them all lined up on Pepere's dresser in the room he no longer slept in (he died in 1968 at age 68).

I made dioramas with my pretty items and styrofoam trays - and I was really pleased by the look of my product. I loved them! Back then the meat trays were white and foamy feeling and for some reason took well to paint and glue. I would go upstairs to ma mere's apartment and sit alone at the table and create my little worlds of sand and shell. As I got older I would embroider with ma mere - I made her a couple of pillows with burlap, embroidery and applique she proudly displayed them on her sofa. (the burlap was from a sack of potatoes)

I have very fond memories of doing this. I have seven other siblings and the household could and would become chaotic at times and I had difficulty with the noise so I would go upstairs and quietly sit with ma mere and have one-on-one time with her. She was so proud of my work - it made me happy - she would then display it on the mantel and tell me what she liked the most about them. Any special belonging we had we would bring it up stairs to her to take care of. Her house was like a museum - it hadn't changed since the late 30's - her place was quite remarkable and I have very fond memories of being with her.

Ma mere, Alberta (Perron) Forand, died in 1977 at 79 years of age. I miss her still.