collect : helen gives

helen : modest and reserved, very seldom heard.
not! she was quite the talker and loved to ask questions.

when we were at charlie's this thanksgiving we found helen's high school yearbook. it is so cool and we loved looking through it. there was even her pressed carnation corsage. i wanted to photograph it along with some other special things. now, for the record, scott's parents were married in their 30s and had kids a little bit later than most. in fact, my parents had me when my mom was in her early 40s and my dad in his early 50s!


the french enamel watch was purchased by helen & charlie at brimfield years ago. it was referred to as THE watch and i think it is gorgeous. she didn't have anything else like it, but i collect sterling silver and enamel and really loved this watch. they would literally dangle it in front of me sometimes and it is now one of my most special pieces. i'm grateful to look at it each day.


this was helen's engraved baby bracelet. charlie seemed to be considering selling it because he kind of panicked after she passed away. they have been collectors for many years and he was overwhelmed. but, i insisted i hold on to it for a little while as there are two grand daughters. the ring is garnet, which seems to be the stone of the czech republic and where helen's parents were born.


this is helen's best friend, julie. we adore julie and she lives near us. the two of them would talk on the phone for hours and i think charlie misses hearing that chit chat. although she has had her share of heartache, julie is the sweetest person. the garnet pin is from a trip they took to the 'motherland' (czech republic) when they were in their 70s and so sweet. although they were born and raised in nyc, they were almost mugged during that trip and hid out in a kmart!

when scott's mom passed away one thing his co-workers did was collect money for him. it was a beautiful gesture and we didn't use the money for the funeral, so we are going to donate it in helen's memory to the following charities -

1. juvenle diabetes research foundation
   
2. food bank of new york (deb also has something special)
   
3. kids in need foundation (learned about from yasmine)
   

we think she would have approved and say that's very good.

xo, cindy

ps i wasn't familiar with the band phish until they broke up, but as is customary, they're back together, again. the song joy was playing when i wrote this post. something about it seems fitting.