To Use or Not To Use, That is the Question

I face a dilemma. What to do, what to do. Hmmmmm.

Let me give you some back ground on my thought process on this, and yes there is a coherent thought process although sometimes I wonder.......

I was in a cleaning out a drawer mood the other day and came across these old dish towels. I haven't seen them in years and I am not sure that I have ever actually used them. They are not new, they are old. I am guessing that they belonged to one of my grandmothers and I am thinking that it was Grandma Amsler because she used dish towels like this. However, I don't remember her ever using ones that had embroidery on them.

At any rate, I found them in a drawer and now.....now......now I think I just have to use them.

I fight daily with what I call my "pack rat" tendencies. Or perhaps I should call them my inner "oh I don't want to use that I want to save it because if I use it then it will be gone" tendencies. I admire people who do not have this tendency in their genetic makeup. They just use the special thing until it is gone. Then they enjoy the memories of that special thing. But they use it up first.

Me, I tend to squirrel things away and not use them because, well, if I used it and used it up then I wouldn't have it anymore would I. I am trying to be better.

Which brings me back to the dish cloths. I am sure that you thought I would never get back to the original thought.

All of the dish towels are worn and soft and have ladies either embroidered or sewn onto them. They are so 1950's (and Dandy I am sure would love them!). They will be great for drying dishes or for covering rising bread dough or who knows what.

OK, OK, OK I am going to be brave, bite the bullet, go for the gusto and use these babies. Use them til they can't be used any more. And then I will enjoy the memory of the using.

Oh yes, there is also a bit of family mystery to go along with these towels. When I pulled them out of the drawer, tucked in between some of the towels was an envelope with a picture in it. I don't ever remember seeing the envelope and I certainly don't remember the picture.

This is Margaret Mary Driscoll Martin
7/4/1834 - 5/24/1912

So far no one in the family knows who she was! Nor do we know why I have a picture of her or what the picture was doing tucked in amongst the dish towels. The handwriting on the back of the picture is familiar but I just can't place it. My brain is in a whirl trying to find out who this woman was.

I may not sleep tonight for all the wondering.

Oh who am I kidding, of course I will sleep tonight. Because I have to get up in the morning and put the turkey in the oven. Hmmm, someday I may have to tell you all about the time I thought I had lost my wedding rings in a Thanksgiving turkey. It was not one of my brighter moments.