I have written a few times about my maternal grandmother and her love of fabric and her sewing prowess. Such a big part of my memory of nana is that she loved sewing and she was excellent at it. Moreover, she loved fabric and she collected it, stashed it and enjoyed it (I like to think that this is a trait that we share).

Today I am sharing about this handmade pillow case that nana made. I have talked about these before, the gingham fabric and the motifs she appliquéd so carefully on them. The fabric is a beautiful gingham of excellent quality: a fine weave with a silken texture. Pure cotton. The Raggedy Ann character was a special part of my childhood; more on that another time.

By chance, this morning, Elora was rummaging through a neglected drawer. She pulled out a selection of things and this pillow case was one of the things. It was wrapped in colourless cellophane and it had ‘Rebecca Goulding,’ written in nana’s writing, on a piece of paper taped to it.

This will be the last gift that I will ever unwrap from my nana. I did not want to unwrap it and I was rather sentimental about the whole thing, but I heard nana’s voice telling me that nothing is too good or precious to use or look at or enjoy. So I unwrapped this last gift.

There was that smell again, wafting into my face as I opened this parcel. Nanny’s home. It’s funny how smells bring back so many memories. I can almost hear nana running to answer the door when I smell that smell. I can almost taste the delicious sandwiches she made for me and I can almost feel her firm and loving hugs.

It is funny how a simple, happy, precious memory, brought about by a simple thing, can evoke tears.