A birthday gift 37 years in the making

My Grandma Smith (dad's mom) died of Lymphoma when I was 3 years old.  (Her last name was Smith because her husband {my dad's dad} had left her many years before & she re-married a man named Smith but my dad kept 'Brown'.)  I have only two memories of my Grandma... I remember being in the hospital when my parents were visiting her & my dad setting me in the ledge of the windowsill & I could see McDonald's golden arches out the window.  I also remember when mom took her out to eat at Frisch's because I remember the huge statue of the 'big boy'.

Dad & Grandma circa 1944.  Dad was 3 years old.  He told me that she had just started getting money from his dad for being in the service & she went to have this picture made.

Grandma Smith, dad & Grandpa Smith when my parents got married... I'm ashamed to say I don't know the year... I THINK it was 1968...

This is the only pic mom had of me w/ my Grandma.  Mom said she did hold me when I was little, but sometimes she wouldn't because she said she was too weak to do so.  She had lost her hair from chemo.  

I was 2 1/2 years old here...

 Mom was really good about dating all the pics... she knew this was Christmas because she said, 'Well-that was your Christmas outfit.  I made it!'

Maybe 8-9 years ago mom had given me a letter Grandma had written me before I went to her house once.  She told me that, 'she got me some 'Eckrich' bologna because your mommy says that's the only kind you will eat'.  I thought that letter was so sweet because it showed that she loved me so much that she made sure to get the kind of food she knew I would eat.  

I had it in a safe place (or what I thought was a safe place), but when our house was broken into the first time, they took a small safe that had our social security cards, our marriage certificate, the titles to our cars & my grandma's letter....

For a girl who's not sentimental, it made me very sad that it was gone...

My grandma had also left my mom her engagement ring for me.  I used to play with it when I was little (under mom's supervision, of course) & even after the letter got stolen, mom gave me the ring to keep...

There was always another gift for me from Grandma but she would never, ever, ever give it to me.... As I've gotten older we've talked about it from time to time, but mom couldn't remember where she had put it.... (Anybody else do that?)

When I got to mom's for lunch on Monday, I saw some money on the placemat where I sit.  I didn't remember mom or dad owing me any money so I said, "What's this?"  She said, 'I'll give you one guess & if you don't guess it - it will go back to where it was...'

Then I knew...it was that gift from my Grandma...

I said, "It's my birthday money from Grandma!!"
Mom had always told me about it - that Grandma had given me money for my birthday, it was one $5 bill & five $1 bills.  She never would give it to me because she was afraid I would spend it...(yea, she had a good point...$10 is $10 when you're young!)

The date on all the bills is 1977... It was a gift for my 2nd birthday (May, 1978) a year before she died. I asked mom, "What was the significance of $10?"  Mom wasn't sure - she said that all Grandma had was a $5 bill & she made my Aunt Clara (her daughter) give her $5 more dollars for me.  The woman wanted me to have every dollar she had at the time...plus some!

And once again the non-sentimental girl was touched by a gift from a Grandma she doesn't remember.  Now I am tasked w/ finding a safe place for it & NOT forgetting where it is!

Ya'll know I'm more than funny kind than the emotional kind.... but PMS is hitting especially hard this month. When B-rad came home I was working on this post...he said, 'Why do you have a picture of money?' & I immediately started to bawl like a little girl while I tried through the tears to explain to him why the money was special.  Obviously I don't do that often & he just kind of looked at me like, 'Whoa, what did I miss?'

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And since I'm funny I CANNOT in good conscience leave you guys w/ an 'all serious all the time' post...
Moms been doing some 'spring cleaning' around the house (that's how she found the money she 'put in a safe place').  When we were looking through the family pics for a pic of me & Grandma for this post I flipped through my baby pics as well.  (My mom gave Olan Mills a ton of money, people.)  In one pic I'm posed on my tummy & have a blue afghan kinda thingie draped over the top of my head that goes onto my back.  
Mom: 'That blanket in that picture - it's right over there.' (as she points to a box in the room.)  
Me: "SERIOUSLY?  You've kept that for 39 years?"  
Mom: 'YES.'
Me: "I mean- what do you DO with that kind of stuff?  Like what's the point of having it?"
Mom: 'Well - you put it away for your grandkids....'
Me:  "OHHHH.  Oopsie..."
Mom:  'Yea.  Oopsie...'
I totally walked into that one - rookie mistake...