Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The Angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of “Mother”’
(Edgar Allan Poe)
Some years ago, I was gifted a
lovely box of vintage handkerchiefs by my daughter. It may even have been for
Mother’s Day. And, although the delicately embroidered hankies preserved within the box
would later take on special meaning in my life, I discovered that it already
had its own story.
I do not know who Elmer was, where he lived, or how his life-story evolved. But Elmer once gave his mother a box of four pretty handkerchiefs, artfully pinned and layered in sheets of tissue. All neatly displayed beneath a pink satin bow. Each white hankie was embroidered with the word, “Mother.”
Only one hankie had already been removed from the box when I received it. The rest had lain untouched for three quarters of a century.
Why would I think that? Firstly, I had to unpin two of the remaining three handkerchiefs from their original paper backing and ease them out of the crackling tissue paper when I selected them to serve as special tokens for the mother-of-the-bride and mother-of-the-groom to carry on the occasion of our children’s marriage in 2016. But, even then, Elmer’s surprise remained hidden. Unseen. Unknown.
Recently, I had been photographing a number of vintage handkerchiefs from my ever-growing collection, including the last remaining hankie from this box. As I lifted it from beneath the pink ribbon and pulled the tissue from between its folds, I was surprised to see that there was something dark tucked behind the tissue. Money.
Two ten-dollar bills had been carefully
placed behind this last hankie, unseen and undisturbed since the day that
someone put them there. Had Elmer lovingly tucked them there for his mother to
discover when she reached for one of her new hankies? If so, sadly, Mother
never found his surprise. And, sadder yet, the evidence suggests that Elmer never had the opportunity to remind her it was there.
Although Elmer's story will never be fully known, it appears that he gave his mother this gift around the time of the Second World War. This conjecture is based on the fact that both bills were issued in 1934 and each bill was well-worn, folded in half, with wrinkles carefully smoothed out.
I'd like to think that this unexpected discovery has allowed two succeeding -and unrelated- generations of mother and child to complete a long-forgotten chapter in the loving story between a son and his mother. On behalf of all mothers, thank you, Elmer, for this belated surprise!
[Note: Elmer’s surprise gift of two ten-dollar bills in the 1940’s would be equivalent to roughly $300 in today’s currency.]
Happy Mother’s Day ~ Love, Elmer
