My Sister's Dolls

Do these Ginny dolls look familiar? If they do, you're probably a "Boomer" like me. My sisters and I loved collecting the dolls and their outfits back in the 1950's.  These two dolls belonged to my "little sister", Nancy. Unlike me, who lost all of my old dolls over the years, Nancy took care of hers and displayed them on a shelf in her craft room.

Here is a photo of my sisters and I on Christmas morning 1953. I'm in the middle and Nancy is on the right - only 15 months old then. As you can see, we got dolls that Christmas. I still remember the ones my sister, Andrea, and I got because (with just a little maternal assistance) they walked!

When Nancy passed away in 2010, after a long battle with ovarian cancer, I was devastated. Her dolls were the last thing I thought about. They ended up in an attic somewhere, I think. I didn't care. I didn't care about much then, actually, except that Nancy was gone. It still aches every day. She was only 58 and my best friend.

And then, a few months ago, Nancy's widower, Aaron, called me. He was moving and found the box in the attic that held Nancy's dolls. He asked me if I'd like to have them. Are you kidding? Of course, I wanted them. 

I wanted to touch them again. To hold them and smell them and try to get a whiff of Nancy, of childhood, of happy/sad sisters' memories.

So now the dolls are on the shelf in my craft room. 

I remember how much Nancy wanted a Betsy Wetsy.

Our mother was reluctant because of the "mess" the doll might make but Nancy was adament and, that Christmas she got this one.

Over the years, she rubbed most of the hair of the old girl!

And then came the piece de resistance . . . Barbie! I still remember every detail of the day I got my first Barbie. Mine is long gone now. But Nancy kept hers.  Here she is, strutting her stuff in the Marilyn Monroe outfit our Mom made for her.

With the original Barbie case and all!

I'm so lucky to have Nancy's dolls. They bring back painfully beautiful memories of childhood and sisterhood that were almost lost.  Like sitting on the porch of our cottage at Wells Beach playing with our dolls together as the surf crashed below us. Like learning to sew at our mother's knee by making clothes for Ginny and Barbie on her old Featherweight. Like fighting, as only sisters can, over whose doll was prettiest.

Do you have keepsakes from your childhood that, when you touch them, make you feel six or seven or eight or ten years old again? Can you close your eyes and it's almost as if you're back there - just one more time?

Where does the time go?

This post is linked to:

Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Share Your Style Link Party #193 at 21 Rosemary Lane
Inspire Me Tuesday #486 at A Stroll Through Life
Blogging Gradmothers Link Party at Grammy's Grid
Amaze Me Monday #300 at Dwellings

Two Sisters On the Road

Do I have a story to tell you!

Back in 2007, my sister, Nancy and I took our first "Sisters' Road Trip" to Searsport, Maine.

We didn't know then that it would be our last road trip together.

The memories of our time together at the Shores are special ones and I reminisced about them often on my previous blogs, It's Always Something and  My Sister's Cottage.

Imagine my surprise when I heard that two sisters I never met had booked five days at Searsport Shores (where my sister Nancy and I first camped) after reading about it on my blog!

I often wonder if anyone is really reading my posts so this news was definitely blog-affirming. DH and I made plans to be in Searsport to meet these adventurous sisters, who had  trusted my blog posts enough to drive all the way from Texas and Ohio to be here!

The sisters, Lori and Becky, really wanted to look for sea glass so I took them to my "secret " sea glass beach. 

It was a "good tide" and there was more glass on the beach that day than I've ever seen at one time. Sisters' Karma? Lori even found a sand dollar!

Sometimes spotting the sea glass among the rocks is the challenging part.

Can you see the pice in the photo below?

The blog sisters did well and each returned to camp with a bucket of sea glass. I loved sharing their excitement!

The next day at the same beach, I saw a jellyfish . . .

And chatted with a local fisherman who was out digging clams.

Both this and sea glassing are done when the tide is low.

On Tuesday eveniing, while I was in the Casita in my  old t-shirt and borrowed boxer shorts  pajamas, there was a knock on the camper door. It was Lori and Becky stopping by to say "Goodbye". They were leaving Maine early the following morning. Long ride back to Ohio and Texas!

They surprised me with a pot of bright red Gerbera daisies . . . 

And a very special note.

Meeting two sisters who were following in the footsteps (tire tracks?) of Nancy and I meant the world to me. I watched them explore the Maine Coast and relived my "sister time" in Searsport. I saw them sitting shoulder to shoulder on their deck and could easily imagine the kinds of conversations they were having; the kind that only sisters can share.

Thanks to Lori and Becky. I remembered why I started blogging in the first place. 

This post is linked to:

Dwellings: Amaze Me Monday