10th June 2009

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Hope Chest Tale

My grandmother (also a Genevieve) was married in 1939 and received a beautiful Lane cedar chest. It was always at the foot of the bed and as children we sat, stubbed our toes, and jumped off it onto the bed. When it was time to move Grandma from her own house to assisted living, some of her things were moved to other family members’ houses and much of it was tossed.

For years I forgot about the cedar chest, untill during a visit to my aunt’s house there was a great moth fiasco that involved much moving of furniture and the throwing away of a large Persian rug. We had to move the cedar chest, which upon seeing again I immediately loved, and discovered my uncle liked to store his old paperwork in it.

For probably a year I thought about that chest. Wishing it was with me and full of my lovely yarn, protecting it from any possible mothy infestations. When I eventually mentioned this to my Mom she commented that I should probably just ask my aunt (my mother is full of sound and reasonable advice!) because if my uncle has it filled with papers then probably they won’t miss it much if I wanted it.

So I emailed and asked. I waited with bated breath… well as much as one does when they email someone. My aunt said she would be thrilled if I would take it, Grandma would want me to have it, and it clears up some space in the basement. Hooray! So, on my last visit to see my family, we cleaned it up and loaded it into her station wagon and drove from L.I. to Cambridge with Grandma’s cedar chest in the back.

Now I have a cedar chest in my living room full of yarn and Jason’s sweaters (mostly yarn). The hinge creaks just a bit as I open it and am accosted by a myriad of colors and textures. I even recieved a swift and nostepinne for my birthday from my Mom in a walnut wood that matched the center panel of the simple deco design. There are so many reasons I am so happy about having Grandma’s hope chest… not the least of which is that she is the one who first taught me to knit, which I will never forget.

Tags knittingyarncedar chesthope chestGrandmafamily