I received a most delightful Christmas present, which started out as puzzling, as I was frowning as to how I was going to negotiate it this morning.
As the family here is aware, my Mom broke the top of her femur this year in one of God's bigger plans, so I have been doing some interesting work in therapy and other things of compassion which I find I enjoy..........which surprises me as I do not like this touchy feely stuff.
In any case, situation or event, one of my jobs is I help put stockings on my Mom, and her boots as she was doing just fine until that damn flu shot the Napolitano snot wipers were advocating was given to Mom and the result was her chest got tight and her leg swelled up again with fluids.
Should file a billion dollar lawsuit, but that is another matter.
So it is difficult for her to bend her leg and do the simple things like put on socks and shoes, which is what I'm good for.
This leads me to Christmas as I get into her bedroom as she waits her tardy child resting, and hands me these off maroon and off brown socks, which look like I could climb Mt. Everest with as they are so fricking long.
I'm puzzling over them, and as she has her socks on today, I reach to pull them off and she gives me the punchline in, "Those socks are your Grandpas".
I puzzle and thing, "You mean Grampa Augie?"
"Yes," she explains, "Those are the socks he wore when he played baseball".
I clarify, "The ones he has on in that picture when he was young?"
"Yes", comes the answer.
So I unroll these socks of off colors and see they almost go to my groin as they are so long. Mom explains he wore some type of pantaloons over them, but I'm musing about this great present and trying to figure out how anyone could wear such heavy socks and keep them up...........and the heat must have been horrid in summer.
Like some child I rushed off and put them into a ziplock bag with a note explaining what they were as Mom has all sorts of things in bags which she knows the origin of like her wedding dress, that most people would throw out as some old worthless cloth.
Was odd as we sat eating breakfast in she said, she thought she only had one sock and Auntie the other, but she found them both now and now I have this as part of my collection.
I have my Uncle's knife I gave him. I have Grams Montgomery Wards pressure cooker. I have my other Grandpa's snuff can I gave him and his rifle. I have my shirt from my sister.......well I have lots of things like little clothes from when I was 4 years old as I keep memories and was usually so careful with clothes or toys I still have even my Tonka big truck I got when I was 7 I think.
So while I never have liked baseball. I never met Grampa Augie as he died the year before I was born. I'm quite delighted in these 100 year old socks from when he played baseball.
Makes me think of a project where I might build a little display case and put them in with his photo......as I have one of his old hunting licenses and a regulation from where he lived I was going to do up to frame on the wall.
This has been such a lovely surprise and I will have to go play with them to learn more about that long ago era in cloth, socks and baseball.
Merry Christmas.
agtG
