Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Theme: Childhood

 

 

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Today's Theme is Childhood.

Looking through my photos I realized that I have five main categories of photos:

1) Antiques and brocante (No surprise.)

2) Religious artifacts

3) Children.

4) Ephemera

5) French countryside

So if you gave me a theme regarding one of those categories you are in luck. The other themes will have to wait, and when I do post them I will remember you.

 

 

 

Baby

Childhood is the theme thanks to:

Paulita,

Danna, and

Lisa

Please send me your addresses and I will send you a gift.

 

 

Cards

A box of French 1900s puzzle pieces that make up different characters.

What type of child were you?

I was a picky eater. Very picky eater.

Had terrible nightmares,

and was the oldest child, no sisters, four brothers.

 

 

Pendant with maiden and child

 

 

The first time I ever bought something old I was fourteen. I went to an auction with my mom and my Aunt Marie. I bought a blue beaded bag for five dollars.

The brocante bug bit me way back then.

When did your Passion bite you?

 

 

Baby's hand with daisies

 

 

French Husband and I wanted a large family. At least four children is what we talked about before marrying. But ovarian cancer put a stop to that dream. Adoption wasn't in the cards, French Husband worried if we adopted whether he would love those children less… he didn't want to know if his fear would be true or not. 

I cannot imagine him loving them less.

 

 

 

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My niece as a mermaid, one of my favorite photos.

 

 

 

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Did you ever make mud pies?

 

I made my brother Marty eat a soap pie.

 

Boy did I get in trouble that day.

 

 

Baby's fist

 

 

Baby's hands. The dimples are the delicious part!

 

 

 

Baby-shoe

 

 

A baby's shoe hanging outside of my Godmother's house.

 

 

 

Chelsea baby

 

My daughter Chelsea when she was about two years old.

She wore hats often as she didn't have much hair.

 

 

Baby rattle

 

 

A baby rattle that sold on my online antique shop…why did I sell it?

 

 

Grandma-Amaro

 

My Grandmother, her sister and my three aunts as little girls.

Look at their bows.

 

 

 

Easter Bow

 

 

I love old postcards of little children with their toys.

 

 

 

Easter bug bonnet

 

 

Especially hoops.

 

What was your favorite toy?

 

 

Easter outfit

 

 

Mine was a shake and bake oven and my bike.

My brothers were my guinea pigs, they ate whatever I concocted.

Most of the stuff was disgusting, but fun to make!

 

Easter surprise

 

 Three Years Ago…..              

My two little nieces and I were taking a nap…. actually I was pretending to be taking a nap in hopes that they might actually take a nap. In the course of pretending to take a nap I started to nod off. But before I fell deep asleep the two of them slowly sat up. Though I knew they weren't going anywhere, I could feel their eyes looking at me, so I kept on pretending to be asleep hoping they would follow my lead.

Instead Molly (my five year old niece,) combed my hair with her fingers, she took my hands and place them on top of one another on my stomach, then she put my legs straight and my feet close together, she took great care to each detail of my appearance making sure my clothes were tidy and smooth of wrinkles. Each of her movements were solemn and serious. Child-play can be like that. Eventually she caressed my face and whispered, "I love you." Then to my other niece, who hadn't made a move the entire time she said, "Shh, Aunt Coco is dead."

Molly's words surprised me at first. Then I saw the depth of meaning in her actions.

The moment was sacred. In her child-like way she had straighten my body into a position that she had seen my father, her grandfather in. She was processing and coming to terms with his death. Children like adults have sincere feelings and thoughts too. They too grieve and try to understand the depth which is before them.

The two of them sat silently by my side for some time, I kept pretending to be asleep…. The symbolic gift of child-play can aid healing.

 

Comments

24 responses to “Theme: Childhood”

  1. christine

    Priceless.

    Reply
  2. Brenda, Walker, LA, USA

    Loved your pics of the innocence!
    As your nieces stroked your hair, you must have gone into another place! I remember similar times, when my boys thought I was asleep, and I was almost there, that they played like I was part of their imaginary fort, climbing over me, putting toys under me, under my arms, ect….I would feel such bliss! It was the most restful feeling I ever knew. Resting, knowing my babies chose me for play and not running off somewhere.

    Reply
  3. Sam

    The children are gorgeous in all the pictures. Your father must have been an amazing man, may he rest in peace.
    I remember liking my snoopy snocone machine. It took forever to grind up one ice cube.

    Reply
  4. welltraveled

    Such lovely insight

    Reply
  5. Zosia

    The mermaid photo is wonderful. I remember when you posted it during your last visit to Willows.
    Thank goodness for photography which preserves the little dimples on babies hands and elbows and knees. I miss them very much because my slim teenage daughter does not have any anymore, except her dimple on the cheek, which she actually inherited from me.

    Reply
  6. Jackie

    I love the mermaid photo too. How about Willows as a theme? As a mom to adopted kids I can tell you 100% that Jann would have loved the kids that made it into his life, no matter the route. I experienced the essence of human strength and hope in the emergence from neglected child to loved being…like a chrysalis, or tight flower bud being nudged open. It is the same miracle as childbirth I promise you…

    Reply
  7. JudyO

    Childhood. I love seeing it again through the eyes of my grandchildren.

    Reply
  8. Bev

    My favorite toy was a baby doll that I got for Christmas. I loved that baby and still have it!

    Reply
  9. Debra

    C, I think I cherish your posts more each day. As you share about a subject, it’s actually helping me work through issues in my own life. Thank you.

    Reply
  10. Ardi

    What a precious memory of you and your two nieces. Children do amazing things that make the moment even more tender. Thanks for sharing this theme. I loved it all.

    Reply
  11. Salut15@aol.com

    I agree…priceless.what a wonderful wonderful post ,Corey.
    Themes for French countryside posts: lavender files and olive trees.Two of my most favorite things ever!
    Sue

    Reply
  12. Cathy J.

    I was a very shy child. When I tell my friends this they don’t believe me because I talk so much now.
    I loved my Easy Bake Oven. I got it at my dad’s union Christmas party. There was a room full of toys, but I focused on the oven. I baked up every mix in the kit. I loved my bike too. I took my “honeymoon” on that bike around the corner with my first first love.
    Corey, thanks for the great blog today!

    Reply
  13. martina

    Very shy around strangers, but a chatterbox around family. Creepy Crawlers and Spirograph. First antique purchased was at age 7, a small Japanese pitcher vase (which I still have).
    That is a lovely mermaid photo. Can you please repost the photo of a few years ago of your mama surrounded by the grand daughters where the girls are in princess dresses?

    Reply
  14. Mahala

    I grew up on a farm in Stockton California. We didn’t have much money so most of my toys were put together from items around the farm. My favorite was an old bike tire rim and a stick. I’d run around the farm rolling that thing for hours.
    When my Dad died in 2006, I was having a hard time…lot’s of grieving, then I found your blog. I remember following along with your posts of your Dad and seeing him in his last days. It is what I believe helped to come to terms with my dads passing. I will forever be grateful to you for that.
    I would like to read more about your adventures to other countries…or even just about growing up in California. Also, I’ve always wondered if you have houseplants and if you do, what kind?
    Mahala 🙂

    Reply
  15. Patt

    I loved Tinker Toys. Now I am dating myself. Now as an adult I design things, homes, settings, etc. I must have started the collecting young. We lived in England and my parents never passed up an opportunity to Antique. I collected Poetry books.
    I am glad you are on the mend.

    Reply
  16. denise

    these blogs are so comforting. we are so much alike and then not. because we are indiviuals. my love for antiques goes way back also. i recall my first purchase being with my mother and at a antique shop. i purchased a handmade honest to goodness handmade French 3″ doily. it is still my very favorite pieces of linen. i framed it. i know it to be French as my mother later purchased a whole set of them, soucer liners, place mats, napkins, and lace table runner. a few years back, they were appraised and their value is above $500. they are in my possesion. i believe in using all my old things,but i am scared to use them as they are delicate and absolutley beautiful. i have used them only once to impress some friends. they were a hit. Bestest,Denise

    Reply
  17. isa

    Your posts always resonate in my heart, Corey. Your way with words is magical and your photography, sublime. That first photo completely captures childhood, to me. Innocence, playfulness, imagination, freedom, joy – pure joy.
    I have all brothers, too – 3 of them. My mother toted me around with her on her antique shopping in the country of the Carolinas and Virginia as a child. I can still remember the scents of the shops, and hear the dirt and gravel crunching under the tires as we zoomed through country roads – the smell of summer grass and sun drenched dirt of the fields on each side of the road…. I got the bug early.
    I had a stuffed llama for a toy that someone brought me from South America – I love that thing. I used to make it “run” by pulling on it’s legs, and eventually, the leather of the pelt split under the front ‘armpits’ and I was devestated. My father, who was a surgeon, took great care to show concern for my little injured stuffed friend, and wrapped her wound in tissue paper, took her to work with him and brought her back home, all sutured up with stitches. “You must be more gentle with her, now, but she’s going to be okay” he said. It’s one of my fondest memories of my father.
    Thanks for the run down memory lane, Corey. 🙂
    xo isa

    Reply
  18. Elaine L.

    I was a very serious and sentimental child. I loved listening to all my dad’s stories about his parents and grandparents. I cherished all my father’s collected precious childhood artifacts. I always liked old things.
    I was the first born and had a brother. I was a mother hen who always worried and wanted to take care of everyone.
    I loved riding my bike around the neighborhood on long summer days. I really didn’t play with toys much. I preferred pretend play.
    ~elaine~

    Reply
  19. Babs M

    Lovely post. We both have that brocante gene. My first purchase was also a blue beaded bag when I was about 18 and I have since collected many more handbags of mesh, beads, etc., from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, although they have become much too expensive now. I’ve moved on to later vintages like the 30’s and some 50’s. My favorite toy was a Blue Willow tea set and I still love Blue Willow.

    Reply
  20. Franca Bollo

    The photo of the baby shoes reminds me of the shortest short story:
    “For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never worn.”
    Raymond Carver
    Six words that convey immeasurable pain.

    Reply
  21. Jeannie

    My first “junking” foray was with my Gram at the local dump, I was 4 or 5. I found a child chair, that my mom still has. The town was teeny tiny and people would through out what they no longer wanted. All of my favorite treasures came from the dump. It was Saks 5th Avenue to my Gram and me! We never knew what we would find, but it was the finding together that was important. She would tell me fantastic stories of the histories of the pieces we found. I still do that when I stumble on a treasure. My favorite toy was a apple box kitchen cupboard with real tea cups that my Gram fixed for me. I served my Great Aunt from the city, toilet water tea and mud pies. My Mom died a 1,000 deaths that day. But the Aunt asked for another cup and became a favorite aunt. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. I love the story of your nieces.

    Reply
  22. Marie-Noëlle

    Moving, very moving…
    I remember one day at my grandmother’s. Two little cousins of mine were there, drawing. The younger one was concentrated on his sheet of paper, which was very unusual. We could feel he was doing his best.
    My gran could not believe her eyes to see him so quiet for over 40 minutes and started to be rather intrigued. So she ventured :
    “What are you drawing?”
    And very seriously he replied:
    “You’ll be very pleased granny, I’m drawing your tomb! See how beautiful it is !?!”
    He stopped, lifted the sheet of paper up and turned it to our gran (who did not feel so happy but showed a happy face to him).
    “… But I have not finished yet ! I must work hard still, because it must be the most beautiful tomb ever”
    Thank you for sharing your story with us !!! xox

    Reply
  23. Amy Kortuem

    Amy as a chid…there was no middle ground, really. From the stories my Mom tells, I was either an extreme challenge or an absolute delight. I was a picky eater, too, Corey. I had dreams about the Virgin Mary and the devil. I prayed all the time. I was terrified of Bigfoot and UFOs. I loved music and played my records all the time – especially the Gene Autry Christmas album, all year long. I danced, I sang. If we visited someone with a piano, I begged them to play for me for hours. I couldn’t wait until I could take piano lessons. I read early, and read all the time. I loved making gifts for people. I wished I had been born in the 1800s so I could be like Laura Ingalls Wilder in the Little House on the Prairie books. It took me years to forgive my parents for having my little brother. My favorite toys were my books and a stuffed plush shark. It was 3 feet long.
    And, as I have mentioned before on this blog, I begged my mother to cut my long hair and missed it immediately, so I ended up wearing silky pajama bottoms on my head with the legs hanging down over my shoulders in what I thought looked like long pigtails. The pajama pants were green. My parents got so used to seeing me in them, they didn’t even think to tell me to take them off one time when we went to town…I got some strange looks.

    Reply
  24. Danna

    Beautiful. I loved all the photos…especially baby hands and baby feet. And thanks for sharing your sweet story. Your family sounds like something out of a fairy tale. You are a lucky girl, indeed.

    Reply

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