What experiences do you recall from the past and how do they affect you today... my memories are full of love and aliveness.

I returned home from work one night, wanting to rest from the long day that I’d had but something was pulling at me, urging me to clear out the front hall closet. I knew it was time to make room for the winter things yet I was really tired. I gave in to the inner urgings and found myself furiously clearing out the summer things and bringing the winter coats to the closet. As I looked up I was drawn to a box on the top shelf. I got on a chair and pulled everything down to clear this shelf. As I looked inside the box, I knew what it was. It was the cuckoo clock that my mother had given me many years before. She wanted me to have it. It was given to her and my dad by my mom’s brother, Uncle Walter. My mom loved this clock, it was her favorite wedding gift. The ceilings in my house were too low so I never hung it on the wall. So there it sat in the cardboard box for many years. Each time I cleaned out the closet, I told myself that I’d give it to my daughter Theresa. For some reason this time was different. I felt it was time to pass it on. I called Theresa and asked if she wanted Grandma’s cuckoo clock. She immediately said yes. So the next day I brought the box into the office and gave it to her. She took it home. Later that night as we talked on the phone, she told me that whenever I give her things she usually puts them aside till later (oh really, I thought!) but this time she didn’t. She felt an urgency to put the clock up that night. As we talked, she was dusting and cleaning the carved image of the deer that stretched across the top of the clock, carefully using linseed oil to bring out all the beauty of this cherished hand-carved wooden piece. Theresa’s boyfriend Johnny got into the excitement of the moment also because he loves cuckoo clocks. When they finished cleaning it, they made a big production out of hanging it on the wall in the living room. Johnny had been watching the Detroit Tigers game and turned it down to hear the ticking and cuckoo of the clock. They were thrilled, so was I. There was a moment of silence before Theresa spoke from her heart, “Thank you mom. This is my first heirloom. It’s like a heartbeat.” I beamed inside feeling the love and appreciation we both shared for this clock. Then she asked, “Do you think grandpa is here? He always loved Tiger baseball. Do you think grandma is here? She loved this clock so much.” I answered yes. She had felt their presence also.

I recall how every Saturday morning all of us kids would gather and watch my mom wind the clock for another week. She would take the long chains and carefully pull them down so the weights were at the top. It was almost like a ritual for us. I remember running into the living room to see the little bird announcing the time.

Ordinary stories of our ordinary lives have extraordinary gifts coded within them.

The next morning as I was leaving for work my younger sister René called. She wanted to show me the flowers that she was taking to the cemetery for my mom, dad and sister Dannie. There was a mixed bouquet for mom and dad and a sweet basket of purple flowers for Dannie, her favorite color. René was wearing mom’s wedding rings on her finger. They were 65 years old, that was why she was going to the cemetery... that was their 65th wedding anniversary. I told her about clearing out the closet the night before and how the cuckoo clock was passed to Theresa. I had no idea that it had happened on their anniversary.

What traditions do you recall? I remember watching the Christmas parade with my brother and sisters. My mom would place newspapers on the floor and give us cranberries and toothpicks so we could make chairs, tables and stick people. We played for hours. We’d also make popcorn balls and string cranberries for the tree.

My mom passed the huge family album down to me. In it are pictures of her when she was younger and lived on a farm and pictures of my dad as a baby and as a little boy. My grandparents are also in the album. Although we never met, I’ve heard many stories about them from mom and dad. Most stories that were passed down were by word of mouth. While looking through the album I found myself saying, “thank you mom, thank you dad for giving us a stable foundation filled with structure, fun and love, a time from the past that I can look back onto and call home.” We need to capture these stories of the past and not have them lost in the noise and fast pace of modern day living.

I’ve learned to appreciate the simple things in life. They are the memories of the heart. My mom always made homemade kahlua every Christmas for gifts and now Theresa follows her tradition and makes kahlua.

I continue passing on family stories to my kids, Theresa and Gary, that my parents shared with us about what it was like when they were growing up.

Remember your roots, your history and the ancestors shoulders on which you stand. And pass these roots on to your children and to other children.

Marian Wright Edelman

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Gerri Magee is director of advertising and public relations and assistant to the editor of phenomeNEWS. She continues to share her thoughts “On The Path” in this column. She can be reached at gerri@phenomenews.com.