It's funny how seeing something can unleash a flood of memories, and how we think the way we grew up is shared by everyone. Today, as I perused the aisles of a local thrift store, I came across a Lane cedar chest just sitting among discarded items.
Just looking at it reminded me of my mom, and the Lane cedar chest she had for decades.
Of course, my mom's looked nothing like this one. Her's was larger and wood-grained on the outside. It was very pretty and it stood at the foot of her bed as long as I could remember. I also remember sitting on it as we watched TV in her room with she and my siblings. We would congregate in her room, mostly in the winters with a kerosene heater in the corner. We did this because it cost money to heat the rest of the house and with the heater warming the master bedroom, we didn't even have to turn up the heat. That was back when families had maybe two TVs in the house...possibly more, but why would you need more than one TV, especially when there were only three networks, no cable, and no VCRs?
I only remember looking inside her cedar chest a few times. If I remember correctly (and, there's a good chance I don't...), she had some items from her wedding, and some other things that meant a lot to her.
Since my mom had one of these, I just assumed every mother had one in their homes. And they passed them down to their daughters, and so on and so on. Apparently, that's not the case. We don't have one in our house, and because I left the Lane cedar chest sitting on the thrift store floor, maybe someone will pick it up and begin a new tradition for their family.
It's been just over fourteen years since my mom passed, and I don't know what happened to that particular piece of furniture. Most likely my sister has it, at least, I hope so. Funny, how seeing something in a thrift store can bring back those memories.
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