CAROL BURNSIDE / ANNIE RAYBURN

>Recently, I traveled to my sister’s house to help her go through my recently deceased mother’s things. In the process, I ran across a big plastic bag of refrigerator magnets and was struck by how reflective they were of Mama’s life and what she held dear. You see, my mom loved to travel and collected magnets from many places that she had visited. Once that started, kids and grandkids would gift her other mememtos to add to her collection. It occurred to me in pouring through them that the collection represented the most important things in her life.

I made small collages of them and took pics to illustrate my point. My mother loved to travel, and the first three picures represent places she visited around the U.S. plus Barbados. Alas, I guess she couldn’t find magnets of her travels through the Holy Lands. The first picture also includes a small antique sewing machine. Mama was an excellent seamstress and accomplished tailor of men’s fashions. She made her living sewing and tailoring for a number of years. Some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around the beautiful dresses she made for me and my sister, especially at Easter.

The last picture represents the most important things in my mom’s life: God and family. The first miniature wooden saw’s message faded over the years, but proclaimed Mama the “Best Nana I Ever Saw”. There’s a button to her as a Mom and a mini card about friendship that is particularly meaningful. You see, when my dad died, my mother felt like her whole world had gone out, but one of her friends moved in, invaded her space and pushed Mama back into the world of the living again. Other magnets included in that last picture include one that compares quilting and motherhood, two things she excelled at. The other two items contain scriptures and echo the deep faith Mama exercised daily.