Yes, Sixteen Tubs filled with Beanie Babies and precious memories of My Mother, My Sisters and many Saturday mornings, before 8:00AM or a cup of coffee, well planned Beanie Baby gathering runs to local stores. Now mind you, Mother had already contacted these fortunate stores to check and confirm they would have delivery of at that time precious and very sought after Beanie Babies. Does anyone remember the Beanie Baby surge?
We do! We gathered at Mother’s house, we didn’t have to wait very long, in the car and we were off. A carefully planned route in Mother’s hand, me at the wheel, and the sisters in the back seat dozing off. Oh, but the nap did not last very long. First store, out of the car we go, always wanting to be first in line because there was always a line and Mother always seemed either to be first or a very close second. I think she talked her way to the front of the line many times, she had a gift of gab, and never met a stranger, if you know what I mean. Meanwhile, we stayed put wherever our position in line may have been. She would check her list for the first store, purchase what she wanted and we moved on to the next potential candidate for a purchase. It could be a Hallmark store, Potpourri House, Ell’s Plants and Things , or another local independent merchant.
But, I will say this, Mother planned the route traveling in a circle that led back to her house with no back tracking. That’s the way she was, plan your route, make the most of your time, and get things accomplished. A trait I have not completely mastered in 76 years, I’m sure she looks down at me and just shakes her head…..However, I do try.
Back at her house, we unloaded the treasures, secured a plastic hang tag cover on them and in her spiral notebook she would catalogue each one, the price, the store where purchased. Then a list of future purchases was made. After that we gathered around the breakfast table, talking about some of the things that happened on the morning adventure, some were funny, some could have been serious, fortunately for us that was not the case. We had one or three cups of coffee talking about the week just ended, we laughed a lot and sometimes if our conversation got serious, we even shed a few tears. Maybe she just enjoyed the thrill of the hunt for the elusive Beanie Babies. But, the main thing was we were together with our Mother doing something that brought joy to each one of us. And, that’s really all that mattered. Looking back, I believe she wanted her time with her daughters and we in return were blessed with time to be with our Mother.
After Mother passed away, my husband and I bought our mother’s home from my siblings, and back I came to the house my parents purchased in 1963 when we moved to East Texas. Mother was a collector, beanie babies, tools, coins, whatever she wanted. So needless to say we had to secure a storage room to pack up most of the collections and SIXTEEN TUBS OF BEANIE BABIES…..
My Sisters and I came up with many ideas about what and where Mother’s Beanie Babies needed to go, however, they never left. They had a home, and they were happy. Although I had some of my possessions in the storage room, the majority of the space was occupied with, you guessed it, Beanie Babies. There was Princess Diana, Bears of every shape, color and size, Birds, Turkeys, Goats, Cats, Dogs, Ducks, Elephants, Sharks, Camels, and the list goes on. They resided in that storage facility for some years until I decided I did not want to continue paying the storage fee each month. So, back to the house they came. It was kind of like “we’re back” scary if you think about it. the Sisters and I got together to decide what we needed to do with the memories from the past, the memories we had collected with our Mother and each other. Sell them, divide them among each other or Toss Them, BIG NO!!! After a while we decided to donate them to the City Police Department to give to children who were involved in a family crisis. A little comfort to the children from our Mother. Thank you for taking time from your busy life to read my story, Our Mother was so special, and I know yours is as well.
