Written by the TreasureGuide for the exlcusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
Yesterday morning just before 9:50 AM on a beautiful spring morning in West Virginia, a weak and frail 90-pound 96-year-old mother who had been struggling with recently debilitating heart and lung problems, stared straight up towards the ceiling, then turned her head aside towards the sound of her daughter saying, "I'm here." Not eating hardly anything for the last two weeks, the elderly woman was almost lost in the folds of the white sheets as she took last breath before the nurses realized that their frantic efforts were in vain and came to a pause.
Later the same night, the daughter searched through her mother's most cherished possessions to find pictures or remembrances for the funeral services and obituary. She looked through the packed bottom dresser drawers where the mother's most valuable possessions were stored.
She found a yellowed newspaper clipping showing the mother as a teen in a fancy gown riding on a float in a parade just after World War II. She found her mother's letter of acceptance to be a switchboard operator for the local telephone company. She found a brittle old plastic baby rattle with the face of a bunny with big teeth and eyes. She found a clip of fine yellow hair. It belonged to her deceased brother. She found a clip of her own light brown hair labeled "Four Years Old." She found a collection of pressed four-leaf clovers collected over many summers. And hand drawn birthday cards showing barely recognizable flowers drawn in crayon and cut out with scissors. And years of report cards with notes that made the daughter smile. And poems written by the mother with titles such as Old Man Time.
Among the mother's most cherished possessions, the daughter didn't find any rare old coins, or diamonds or gold. Her mother's treasures were of a different sort. They were remembrances of the things she loved the most - especially the people who she brought into the world and nurtured along the way.
And the daughter I treasure more than anything.
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