An Unexpected Legacy

Ok, I'll admit.  I was mildly irritated today.  I know, I know.  It's Mother's Day, and all moms are supposed to be pampered and loved-on and grateful to be moms.  I was all those things, but I was also just a wee-bit annoyed.

My plan didn't work.  It never does.  I have long-known that a late bed-time does not equal sleeping-in.  In fact, it's the opposite.  The later my angels fall asleep, the earlier they awaken.  But 6:15 a.m. on a Sunday morning?  I thought we'd at least make it to 7 a.m.  Wrong I was...

But there was no way I could be mad.  With two little darlings climbing all over me, screaming "Happy Mother's Day," smiling and jumping on the bed and just generally being the sweetest kids ever, there wasn't a mad bone in my body.

Especially when I saw their entourage.  That was when the emotions came.

I never know which lovies or blankies or stuffed ones will accompany my babes.  On this Mother's Day morning, my children came with piles and piles of beanie babies.

All I could think was how appropriate it was.  Years and years before, another mother I know and love started her collection of these ridiculous stuffed animals!  My Grandma Joyce.  Sweet "Grand," as I called her.   Bless her heart, I think she really thought they would be worth something one day because she had literally hundreds of them. I vaguely recall her saying something about how she was just sure they would quadruple in value.  How could she ever know, they've turned to gold for me!

The piles of them are kept now in my mother's closet.  And everytime my children go to their grandma's house, they get to take one beanie home each visit.  At this rate, we'll be doing it well into college the amount left.  It is a lovely sight.  All of the beanies poured out on the bed, with them taking their precious time to choose the perfect "friend" to bring home.  This treat is one of the things that most excites them, especially because they think it comes from their beloved "T." (Grandma T is what they call my mom).  Really, it came from mine.

So, oddly, my grandma's beanie babies have become one of her sweetest and unexpected legacies.  To think that this is one of the ways she lives on!  She would be horrified.  The thought of it probably has her upside down in the ocean where her cremains were placed, as I type   I'm certain she would much rather be remembered for her beauty and her kind heart and her hip old lady clothes and shoes and purses and jewelry.  Not toys!

But she doesn't get to choose that.  No one does.  When we leave this earth, we never know what we will leave behind for our loved ones to carry on.

So, this day, I honor not just the love and joy and laughter that my sweet grandma left to my mother that my mother passed to me that I (hopefully) am giving to my children.  I honor the beanies, too.  For they really are a simple, unexpected gift that keeps on giving!

 Sweet Grandma Joyce (my "Grand")