Things of the Past

Most of us have memories of the things we used to play with when we were children. My brother and I had an old cardboard tube, carpet had been on it, at my grandparents house that we would drag out every time we were there. This thing was made of real thick cardboard, so thick that he and I could sit it across the arms of two chairs and sit on it. It could hold us both at the same time at least until we were almost 10 anyway. We could roll marbles and cars down this thing, hang upside down on it and it would amuse us for hours. There were also plastic canvas "masterpieces" that Mom (and I found out recently Dad) had made for Bryan and me. One was a pencil holder, another was a van shaped bank. I borrowed (stole - I've had it the last few years) a book that had crochet stitches that Mom had bought years ago (so long ago the pages are yellowing) to find that it contained all of the masterpieces in it. Not only did it have the bank, a doll, a bear but it also had another book in it that had different magnet patterns. One afternoon, I came home from errands, Mom was babysitting here, and Younger Son had found the book. And he HAD to have one of those banks. I completed it a couple of days ago but of course Older Son and Daughter have to have one too. This means long strands of yarn over and over again. Then you have to keep in mind that I have a five month old kitten that absolutely loves string. And yarn. So much so that after I clipped a piece he grabbed it between his teeth and took off with it, needle still attached. I recovered the yarn, gave him a different one (his third now) and realize that I would finish faster without having to stop the cat from taking my string. But it wouldn't be as interesting if I wasn't competing to keep it and regardless of how long it takes me to complete them, the kids will still have the memories of the interesting things they had that no one else did.