Isabel Designs

Garden Flowers in June

If my mother was alive, she’d be seventy-three years old. She’s been gone eight years, and I still miss her. The first few years after her death, I would visit her grave site often. Somehow it gave me comfort though I never understood why. I knew she wasn’t there. Perhaps seeing her name spelled out on the granite stone helped me believe it was real.

Though my stops at the cemetery are less frequent these days, the visits I have with my Mom still happen regularly. I hear her voice encouraging me when I’m feeling uncertain – especially when I’m trying to learn something new. Just as she had said in past, “don’t underestimate yourself”, and “you can do it” still help me to believe in my abilities. As I get older I realize just how special it was to hear those words from her. 

When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, it felt like our whole family got the disease too. The reality of her prognosis was devastating, but it also became an opportunity for all of us to savor the important things in life, like saying ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’. Today I send out birthday wishes to the Universe, along with a song that I gave to my Mom years ago to try and say how I felt – and still feel. It’s a Natalie Merchant song called “Kind and Generous”. Listen Now on Grooveshark. Read the lyrics here.

When I was a little girl, I was always drawn to my mother’s jewelry box. It was fun to try on her pretty things and play grown up. My favorite thing to do was open up a purple velvet case, that Mom always kept separate. Inside were what I came to name, her wedding pearls. It was a necklace which had been a gift from my Dad and which Mom wore on her wedding day. Luckily for me, it was my ‘something old’ and my ‘something borrowed’ on my own wedding day. As an adult, my memories are more about peeking in the velvet case, than seeing the necklace on my Mom. As my daughter prepares for her Prom, we have been hunting through an enormous number of stores looking for just the right outfit. As she tried on her dress with the necklace she had planned on wearing, she disappointedly remarked, “I don’t think it looks right”. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it earlier, maybe it was a divine reminder from above…. In any case, I offered for her to wear Grandma’s wedding pearls. It has been a long time since I opened the purple velvet case. The mystique and memories are always vivid. To my delight, they are the perfect compliment to my daughter’s dress, and the glow of happiness at the privilege of wearing them was evident. For me, it’s never about the actual value of an object, but the sentimental value that wraps itself around an object over time. Now my challenge is to make earrings to match!

memories from childhood

We are sisters – Susan and Nancy. We treasure the simple things in life. From the time we were little girls, we were encouraged to practice traditions commonly passed on from mothers to daughters. The most cherished lessons were taught by our Mother’s example. As children, our Mom used to make all our clothes. She baked cookies for our school lunches. At home every meal was an opportunity to celebrate family. We grew up understanding that hard work reaped great rewards, that being thrifty meant we had more to share, and that working with our hands and our heart is a wonderful way to breathe life into the world. Our Mother’s name was Marie Isabel. She lost her battle to ovarian cancer in 2001, but the legacy she left us continues. It is in this spirit that we create for Isabel Designs.

Now we want to hear your story. This blog is intended to be a place where we can all share the legacies that our Mother’s created. If you are carrying on traditions handed down to you from your Mother or Grandmother, we’d like to hear about it. If it’s as simple as following her recipes, or having similar penmanship, tell us why it’s special to you.