passing down the sentiments

Tonight after work it was cold enough outside to bring out the gloves as I walked to my car. I reached into my purse (Kate Spade, btw -LOL!!) and pulled out my gloves for the first time this this Season. This is always a sentimental moment for me. I feel the soft leather, slid my hands into the warm lined gloves that used to be my mothers. I notice I always have a bit of a smile on my face as I put them on. Out of all the things I have of my mothers, the gloves are what I cherish the most. The gloves are 52 yrs. old. These were the first pair of nice leather gloves my dad had given my mother shortly after she arrived in the states to live in Chicago after moving from Mexico. My mom was 22 years old whe she got them.

I guess the wonderful feeling I get when I put them on is knowing my moms hands used to fit in them.  My mothers hands were a bit bigger than mine, so most of her rings I could not wear, but her gloves, well they fit like a glove.

When I was in High School I would ask to borrow them every once in awhile and each time I would return them  back to her when I took them off. Thinking back, I probably didnt trust myself enough to hold on to them. I often 'misplace' things. I have those gloves now. I think it was soon after I graduated HS and was hanging out at my parents house and she was going through some of her things. I saw the gloves and she asked me if I wanted them. I remember not being too excited because I silently had a 'fear' that they were now in *my* possesion and I would have to take as good a care as she had for 22 yrs.

Over the years I had moved around quite a bit and those gloves alway's moved with me, they were even packed in my rubbermaid container along with important documents when we would have to evacuate Fl for Hurricanes.

When I was pregnant with my mothers first granddaughter (Madeline) 15 yrs ago, she gave me some of her jewelry. I have never been that much into jewelry (Lost two wedding band sets in less than 9 yrs!) The jewelry stayed in a a box and I would come across her jewelry every so often. The jewelry was mostly gold, a few fun baubles and an aquamarine ring set in a very beautiful setting. Madeline has ALWAYS had a thing for jewelery. She has looked for that ring in the box SO many times over the years. With each time asking me when she can have it and try to sweet talk me into having it right then. Of course something that precious should not be given to a child until proven she could care for it and let it mean something special. In March Madeline turns 16 yrs. old. I can't get her a car, but I can give her the ring she has been waitng for since she was probably 5 or 6. Her "precious" she calls it.

I hope that when Madeline gets her 'precious' that she gets a smile on her face when she puts her finger in it just as I do when I put on my mothers gloves. My mother is no longer here with us, she passed away 4 months after Madeline was born. But, she knew that one day I would be giving her that ring...and it just so happens to be Madelines birthstone...

My mother, Michaela Cortez Guerrero early 20's