Monday, April 02, 2007

I'll send it along with love from me to you

Jen is writing now about her grandmother and how she loves to send care packages with Jen at every visit. I have a great affection for Esther and these care packages partly because I've never received one, but mostly because I know how much effort she invests into each package (I should say that I have received them from Esther, but my family never gave any, so there...)

And then there are the packages themselves. Everyone has received a weird gift, a thoughtful gift, a mundane gift. But when you receive a gift that is all at once weird, thoughtful and mundane--and when you receive such on a frequent basis--that's literally remarkable.

But I wouldn't do any good trying to describe the sort of thing Jen brings home. I won't try. What I'll do, however, is show you what Jen has brought home and ask you to describe, in your words, what these pictures say to you.

With love, this post, from me (Malcolm) to you:















9 comments:

My Breathments Off said...

This says, you need to bathe with a "dramatic new discovery": soap

Lauren said...

I've had the Beatles in my head all day...

loved these pics haha

Brent said...

Unbelievable - Some of those soap have to be from the early 70's ... If you don't want 'em, I'm sure the Smithsonian will!

Jen said...

They smell like the early 70s. Not in a bad way--just in a potent way.

One whiff of them reminded me of the "Avon closet" she had in her Comanche, Texas, home. . . .

Grandma sold Avon for many years when it was a veritable social enterprise, requiring saleswomen to actually "call" on customers (not just put brochures in office coffee rooms). She kept a stash of most-ordered items in her linen closet, and the thing smelled heavenly--a terrific combination of powders, perfume, new makeup, bubble bath, lotions.

When we went to visit, my sister and I just wanted to sit in front of it and look at the carefully placed items and smell their soft smell. I can remember how the ordered lines of lipsticks looked; the smell of that old Skin-So-Soft bar of soap brought it back.

My Breathments Off said...

Top Five sort of way??? Dangerous.

Lin said...

never knew lever used to be lever brothers

My Breathments Off said...

oh, if you haven't unwrapped the "Feelin' Fresh" soap, can I have it? I think it looks cool.

Cate said...

First off, I couldn't even come close to gift wrapping a gift like that one. Even after about 4 years of retail...she's got me beat with her skills. Then, the soaps that she's collected over 40 years...wow. Those are vintage.

Micah said...

you have not even begun to see her gift-wrapping skills