Ever notice the things that mothers save?  Tucked away in thousands of bureau drawers and musty closets are pencil holders made from juice cans, clothes pins fashioned into recipe holders, paper plates stuck together to form card holders, and hundreds of other crafts that have kept Elmer in the glue business for many years.

One of our all-time favorites was a carefully crafted and painted blue silhouette of a cat.  It had a piece of sandpaper glued to it and the words “Scratch my back” written in a third grade scrawl.  This prize hung over the Cavera stove to provide a way for Mom Cavera to strike matches to light the gas burners.  If that doesn’t date us, nothing will. 

Long ago, Mom Cavera sent a box of these precious mementos to us.  Included were several “spiritual bouquets.”  Back in the 50’s, some good Sister must have been delighted with herself for finding a way to tug at a mother’s heartstrings while she made certain her little charges kept sending up prayers.  Each construction paper card featured a carefully colored hand-drawn bouquet on the outside.  Every flower bore the name of a prayer.  What mother could resist a card that promised “With all my love, five Hail Mary’s, four Our Fathers and two Novenas for you, Dear Mother.” We doubt any such fragrant bundle ever saw the inside of a Catholic mom’s garbage can.  We weren’t surprised when a box of this stuff made its way to our mailbox some twenty-five years ago.  Since we can’t bear to throw these things out either, they remain in a box in the bottom of one of our closets, presumably increasing in value each year.

A piece of bark decorated with acorns, straw flowers and maple seeds hangs in our kitchen.  This creation once won the kindergarten prize in a school art fair.  It has been hanging in the same corner since that day.  Over the front door we have a pine cone wreath fashioned long ago by a foster son who still calls on special days.  That’s the way it is with children.  They come and go, but not completely, because we keep visible pieces of their hearts.

Mothers know that the day will come when their children will leave for places of their own.  A mother with mementos has proof that her children have hearts wise enough to fashion gifts of love.   Years later, she boxes up these priceless treasures and sends them back to her children to remind them that no matter who they think they have become, their mother remembers who they really are.