Memory Bear Cedric

Cedric, the teddy bear, is home in Nashua, NH. It arrived last week looking quite different than when its fur was sent to Ohio several months ago.

That's because Cedric resulted from converting a fur stole into a teddy bear.

Cedric is a jointed teddy bear made from a fur stole

 

After my mother died, years ago, my brother and I cleared out her home. We discarded or donated nearly all household items and clothing, but not a fur stole, which was the pride and joy of my mother's accessories. She enjoyed dressing up and wore the fur when she and my late father attended weddings or special events.

My late mother's fur stole

As a homemaker, she had purchased it in the mid-1960s from a former department store in Plainfield, NJ, as shown by a receipt she kept with it. 

I relocated the fur to our apt home in Nashua and it was stored it in a bedroom closet. This year, after an online search, I found Fairy Godmother Creations in Dayton, OH, and read how clothing, furs or wedding dresses could be converted into heirloom treasures. The website provided information with order forms and costs. 

Fairy Godmother Liane, who has been creating memories for over 25 years, could convert the fur into a memory teddy bear. The website included a phone number and I called her before sending it. She told me that she would send an email after it was received and examined and would provide a completion date, which would most likely be several months. 

Curious about the cost? it was just under $200 with shipping paid by myself both ways. Admittedly, it's an expense for a small teddy bear, but it's a special memory of my mother, so the cost or time to complete it were not an issue for me. 

Once the bear was done, Liane emailed a photo and then sent it with care instructions. Because this is a real-fur bear, the fur was re-enforced with a fabric-based interfacing to help it last. To keep the hide from drying out, the teddy bear should be kept out of direct sunlight and not near heating. She advised never to use water on real fur as it could cause shrinkage.

Liane asked me to email her when the bear arrived. She wanted to make sure that her creation made it home. I emailed back that this one did just that. As for the name of the teddy bear, my mother's name was Clara and the name Cedric appealed to me.

Cedric has joined other special friends in our apartment.

July Family Birthdays

This past Sunday, July 19, was National Ice Cream Day, a celebration we enjoy as evidenced by the previous post — but, it's an important day in our family for a very special reason. It's also the birthday of our oldest granddaughter. 

She shares a July birthday with her grandfather, Patrick, who helped her celebrate her birth day, 15 years ago. 

This weekend, once again, they celebrated together. The years have gone by way too fast.

Happy 🎂 Birthday 🎉

We celebrated not only their birthdays, but also National Ice Cream Day at a RI creamery.

Visiting Family & Friends

Road trips to see out-of-state family and friends have become an extended trip for us as it involves stops in RI, our home state of NJ and PA. Our most recent 12-day trip included those states and several we passed through in between. 

During this trip, we attended a college graduation in RI, a soccer game and Mother's Day celebration in PA and visited an unusual museum (more on that later) there. In NJ, we took a long-time friend to dinner to celebrate her retirement after 44 years with the same company; treated a 98-year old friend to a take-in lunch at her home and visited with a former co-worker of mine. 

It's unusual for me, but there wasn't a lot of photo-taking on this trip except at the graduation; however, a lot of happy memories were made.  

The smiling graduate above is oldest daughter who received an MBA degree from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI. In addition to ourselves, her children, husband and other family members attended the event.

In PA, the youngest granddaughter is an avid soccer player and on a traveling team this year. We watched one of her Saturday morning games which was in her hometown. 

In between the RI and PA visits, we treated ourselves at two food places in NJ, neither have NH locations. That's our excuse for these less-than-healthy eats.

White Castle is famous for its small, square hamburgers or sliders which sold for 5 cents when introduced, but have gone up in price, now $1.29 to $1.59. Founded in 1921, in Wichita, KS, it's credited as the world's first fast food hamburger chain, but it's not a franchise. The company has been family-owned since its founding with every location privately owned. White Castle operates over 350 restaurants primarily in the Midwest and Northeast, and some Southern and Western states. Since there's no New England location, we wait for a NJ trip and dined at the same one in Piscataway, NJ, that was written about in this 2019 post.

Rita's Italian Ice was founded in May 1984 by a former Philadelphia firefighter, Bob Tumolo, using a family recipe and the business was named after his wife, Rita. The product was originally advertised as water ice, using the Philadelphia regional term for what's called Italian ice in other parts of the country. In 1989, the family  franchised the business. Rita's has over 600 locations in over 30 states, predominantly on the East Coast and in the Sun Belt (Florida to California). The closest franchise to NH is 45 minutes south in Walpole, MA.

We enjoyed family, friends and treats on this road trip. As satisfying as all of these were, there really is no place like home — at least until our next road trip or travel adventure.

A Fur to a Bear

Years ago, women accessorized with fur coats, stoles, and capes especially for occasions like weddings, dinners and holidays. 

The fur fashion trend peaked from the 1930s through the late 1950s. It seemed to represent luxury and glamour, popularized by movie stars of the times. In the 1920s, fur became a staple of Hollywood style and evening wear. In the 1940s-50s, a fur stole was considered a symbol of elegance worn for day and evening affairs and sometimes featuring animal heads and tails. Wearing fur was less popular in the 1960s and years after due to various concerns, mainly ethical and environmental.

In recent years, real fur has experienced a comeback with social media sites popularizing the trend. Influencers have been showing vintage pieces worn with casual outfits. Preowned vintage fur is seen as a sustainable, guilt-free, and stylish option as many major brands and designers, Gucci, Prada and Chanel continue to ban new fur.

Because of the cost, fur was not part of most everyday, non-Hollywood wardrobes. Some women saved up to purchase such a costly accessory. 

My mother was one such woman. She was a homemaker and enjoyed dressing up when she and my father attended annual conventions for his trade (electrical contractor) or when they went to formal affairs. She very stylish as shown in these 1930s photos.

My late mother enjoyed stylish fashions of the time

In the mid-1960s, she bought a fur stole from a department store in my hometown of Plainfield, NJ. As this was an extravagant purchase, she bought in on a payment plan as shown by a receipt she kept with the fur.

My mother died over 10 years ago. My brother and I settled her estate and cleared out our childhood home. Many household items and clothing were either discarded, donated or sold. However, the fur (shown on the right) was not one of those items.

Until last week, it was stored in a closet here in Nashua, NH. Opening the closet door brought bittersweet memories, mostly good ones, of my mother's joy when she wore it.

My late parents dressed up and going out

It would never be worn again and it was long past time to do something with it. So, last week, I sent it to Dayton, OH.

Why?

Because a fairy godmother will transform my mother’s fur into a memory teddy bear. I found Fairy Godmother Creations through an online search. (There are other sites that offer similar conversions, but this one impressed me the most). According to its website: Fairy Godmother Creations can convert your clothing, fur coat or wedding dress into heirloom gifts that tie generations together. 

According to the website information, fairy godmother, Liane, has been creating these bears for over 25 years. The website included a phone number so that anyone interested in speaking to a human could contact her.

I called Liane and, during our chat, received instructions on how to package and send the fur. (The website contains order forms with complete instructions and costs.) She assured me that an email would be sent when it arrived, 2 days that email came. 

It could take a few months for the conversion from fur to teddy bear. As for the cost, it's not inexpensive — $185 with an added $16 for return shipping in addition to the cost of sending. To me, this expense is priceless.

And, I can wait. After 10 years, time won't make a difference. Once the bear is done and before mailing, an email will be sent with a photo. 

When the teddy bear arrives at its new home, of course, there will be a future photo post, so bear with me (pun intended). But, before then, I need to think about its name.

Your turn — Do you name inanimate objects in your home ?

Thanksgiving Getaway

We went on an extended Thanksgiving road trip visiting friends in our native NJ and in PA before spending the holiday with family members in PA. Our return to Nashua, NH, preceded the 5-inch snowfall this past Tuesday, December 2, the first of the season.

Most folks will agree that long-time friends are truly the best even if the get togethers are less frequent than we would like them to be because of distance and other reasons. Whenever we can, we connect with my high school friend, Sara, and husband, David, also NJ natives, who now reside in PA.

Christmas tree photo has become a tradition for us and friends, Sara & David

Many of our get togethers have taken place during the holiday season of either Thanksgiving or Christmas and we catch up with a meal and lots of conversation. At Christmas, there are always photos by the tree wherever we happen to meet. Thankfully, their tree had already been set up ahead of our visit.

Individual photos are always followed by a group "selfie" photo and we've always managed manage to fit everyone and the tree in the picture.

Thanksgiving dinner was celebrated with the grandchildren and their parents. The only one missing from the above photo was Patrick, the photographer.

The Christmas tree was set up and decorated by family

The family Christmas tree was set up and decorated as a group effort before everyone sat down to dinner.

Harrisburg, Lincoln & Lancaster Railroad train ride with Santa and the conductor

The train engine is a 1868 steam locomotive replica

There wasn't any Black Friday shopping for anyone, instead we all went on a family outing in Elizabeth, PA — riding on a narrated train excursion through the Stone Gables Estate on the holiday decorated Harrisburg, Lincoln & Lancaster Railroad. 

Photos from the train ride and a group family photo (minus myself)

The ride featured a replica of an 1868 steam locomotive, pulling replicas of an 1848 Pioneer Coach and a mid-1860s Combine & Day Coach. (Stone Gables Estate is a biblical faith-based ministry/business. Its mission is to donate 100% of net profits to aid abandoned children worldwide.)

Selfies were taken by the hotel's holiday decos

Our Lancaster, PA, hotel was fully decorated the morning after Thanksgiving. Elves in the form of hotel employees worked to set up multiple tree displays and a gingerbread house in the lobby, all good photo opportunities, which we could not resist.

A variety of red cars in keeping with the season

While other family members left for their home on Saturday, we stayed for the weekend and traveled 30 min. from Lancaster to Hershey, PA, to visit America's Transportation Museum. The museum is dedicated to the preservation of automobile history and is also known as the AACA (Antique Automobile Club of America) Museum, which is rather confusing as the museum is not affiliated with that organization.

The 71,000 square foot museum opened in June 2003. It displays over 130 cars, buses, motorcycles and automobiles in themed settings from the 1890s to 1980s. Rather than display the cars in long rows, the AACA Museum incorporated an educational approach in its displays by adding scenery and set designs to complement the period in which each car was built. Vintage autos are shown in unique settings through the decades. 

Vintage Tucker autos in the museum

Major collections include the Cammack Tucker Collection, billed as the world's most extensive collection of Tucker automobiles. (The collection is named for David Cammack, a historian and collector whose entire collection was donated to the museum after his 2013 death.)

We spent over 2 hours touring this museum, a welcome escape from a cold and windy day outdoors. A future post will feature more of the displays. (I appreciate your comments on our Portugal visit. There's more to share, those posts will most continue in the New Year.)

Your Turn — Did you celebrate Thanksgiving with any traditions ? 

Going to a Wedding

Correction, we went to a wedding last weekend in RI. This family event was to celebrate the marriage of my husband Grenville/Patrick's daughter, Shannon and her fiancé, Harlan.

This is a photo-heavy collage post which highlighs some of the day's events and participants.. (Due to privacy concerns of some, names have been omitted; however, many long-time blog readers may recognize many in our family, especially grands.)

We got all gussied up in our finery because for the father of the bride, nothing less than a tux would do for this event. We used the iPhone portrait feature to create these selfies.

The bride was escorted by her father and son, our grandson, who looked quite dapper in his tuxedo.

The groom awaits his bride. The attendants above were the bride’s sister, daughter and niece had just preceded her down the aisle.

The minister shared some final words with the groom as the two witnesses and the groom's son looked on.

After the exchange of vows and rings, the new Mr and Mrs took their celebratory walk.

Outdoor photos were taken on a small dock in the rear of the restaurant where the ceremony took place. It was a very sunny day evidenced by the granddaughters' squinting. The bride's immediate family (father, sister, daughter, son, niece) are posed in the top photo. Some of the groom's family (mother, sister, cousin) are shown in the bottom photo.

Pictured above are Patrick and his now two son-in-laws, also the groom and his sister and ourselves.

The newlyweds first dance is always a traditional photo at every wedding. Then, the mother of the groom and the father of the bride joined them for a dance.

There were a number of family photo group shots. The top one is the bride's immediate family (sans myself who was taking the photo). The bottom photo has members of the groom's extended family, so many names to remember. His mother and other family travelled to RI from his native Columbia; other family came from Spain and Australia. In the last photo above, the bride and groom posed with their teenage children, aged 14 to 18, including our shoeless oldest granddaughter.

The cake and all of the desserts were handmade by the groom's cousin, who came from Columbia for the wedding. 

The top photo was a remembrance table with photos of family members who have passed. The bottom photo showcases all the delicious handmade desserts 😋.

Just a few more random photos of the happy couple and grandchildren Lots of folks, including ourselves, had fun at the photo booth; yes, we took multiple selfies here.

And, now it's time to dance out of this post with a couple of photos from the ever popular and always fun conga line dance. Have you ever been part of one?

If you reached the end, thanks for sharing in this happy event. As a new month starts this week, we're finished with major family events for this year. Now, we will be concentrating on our fall travels, one of which starts next week. It's not a road trip, but is quite far and will be a new adventure in many ways, details early next week.

A 94th in NJ

We took our first extended road 🚗 trip last week. We've been on road trips the past several months, but all of these have been within New England. This trip was to our native NJ for a long overdue (18 months) visit with family and friends.

But, the main purpose besides visits, was to celebrate a very special  94th birthday of our friend, Margaret. She and her late husband, Edward, were the nicest neighbors who lived across the street from my parent's and my childhood home. Margaret still lives there, alone now since Edward passed. She's quite self-sufficient and even still driving locally. A niece living nearby often takes her out as well. We so admire and love this remarkable lady, and were thankful and happy to have been able to spend time with and celebrate with her.

Our NJ friend, Margaret, was 94 years young last week

The last time we visited NJ and visited with her was December 2019, and despite the months passing, we've kept in contact through weekly phone chats and snail-mail. Now, that we've all been vaccinated, it was wonderful to give hugs. We went to dinner with my brother (Tony) and sister-in-law (Anita). We pre-celebrated Anita's July birthday as we won't be back in NJ then.

This extended trip took 5 days including the 6-hour travel time from NH to NJ and vice versa. We were happy to see family and friends. It entailed a bit of drive time as none of them live near one another, and we visited with several couples as time allowed. And, there were other celebrations as well. My oldest childhood friend and husband (Phyllis and Jack) told us their 51st wedding anniversary was the day we went out for breakfast together 🥂.

Great niece Autumn Rose at 20 months

Yes, the youngest family members are growing up, as shown in these photos of our great niece, Autumn Rose, who is nearly 20 months old. She and her parents were at my brother's home  when we visited over the weekend.

Autumn Rose with mom Julie and "Pop-Pop" Tony

It was game time with mom Julie and my brother, Tony, also known as "pop-pop." 

Great niece Savannah Marie, 20 months & great nephew Nicholas James, 1 month

This is her cousin, our other great niece, Savannah Marie with baby brother and great nephew Nicholas James. These youngsters live in FL and the updated photos were sent by their mom (niece Jamie) during our visit. 

Grenville at White Castle, a favorite NJ fast food eatery

For Grenville, no NJ trip would be complete without a stop at White Castle, his favorite fast food eatery. Unfortunately, there are none in New England, so he had a fix at one near our South Plainfield, NJ hotel. Maybe that's why we always stays at that Hampton Inn 😋

White Castle celebrates its 100 birthday this year. The family-owned business (no franchises) was founded in 1921 by Walt Anderson and Billy Ingram in Wichita, KS. White Castle still sells its steamed beef patty with onions and a pickle, cheeseburgers also available. These small, square hamburgers are so easy to eat, that they were dubbed Sliders and sold by the sack. In 1921, White Castle was the first fast food hamburger establishment. By 1927, co-founder Ingram came up with the idea of carry-out and inaugurated the now familiar ad of Selling ‘em by the sack, which is how they are still sold today. Throughout the company's existence, the Ingram family's decision not to franchise or take on debt has kept this chain relatively small compared to similar restaurants.

The Polar Cub, Whitehouse, NJ, no road trip is complete without ice cream

Of course, for us no road trip would be complete without one of our favorites🍦and not just at any roadside stand. Its official beginnings are unknown, however, the Polar Cub in Whitehouse, NJ, has been a very popular highway creamery since the 1950s. While, the pandemic shuttered the stand last year, it reopened for the 2021 season in mid-May, luckily just before our visit. 

Yes, we were happy to be in the area after a late breakfast with friends. This was a lunch stop. Doesn't everyone believe in dessert first or last?

Thanks for your comments on last week's post about The Dumb Guy Museum in Portsmouth, NH. We agree it was the most unique museum we've visited on our travels to date. While, it might be hard to beat this find on future road trips, we'll definitely keep looking 👀.