The Thrift Shop Came To Me

My grandma was the type of woman who went from beyond poor to living a comfortable life. She had a husband and three children. Yet, my grandma and my grandpa started out with nothing.

My grandparents loved the finer things in life, and strived to get to where they wanted to be in life. So, they both took off running, and eventually; after many years of hard work; got to where they wanted to be in their life.

My grandma had the BEST taste in unique perfume bottles ever. She collected them. That was one of the many things I loved about her.

I remember everytime I would go to her house, she would have a new perfume bottle to her collection for me to look at and admire. It was so facinating to me. For me, being a little kid, I had no clue why; but I LOVED it.

I never thought of myself as a girly girl growing up, but I guess I secretly was on the inside. Especially since I adored her perfume bottle collection. I always told myself that one day, I wanted to inherit them. That was a secret I kept to myself.

Growing up, I was more like a tom-boy than a girly girl. So, I never liked to admit to people I was interested in make-up, painting my nails, dressing in cute clothes. I never liked to show it off. Therefore, I never did.

Sadly, the day came where my grandma, at 94, passed away. Don't get me wrong, she had a long and lovely life. She survived cancer 3 times, but lost to her 4th battle to cancer. It was very sad and devastating.

Since that sad day, my aunt and my mother have been working hard to go through and pack up everything in my grandma's house. She and my grandpa had a lot of stuff.

My mom and my aunt wanted to make sure the important items, got good homes. Like most families, if not all, they distributed from within the family first.

At the end of last year, my aunt and my mom brought me into my grandmother's room, showed me my grandmother's perfume collection, and asked me if I wanted any of them. My eyes grew WIDE with excitement and i said, "YES, ALL of them!" I had a huge grin on my face.

I told them how I always loved grandma's perfume bottle collection and dreamt of inheriting them one day. My mom and my aunt looked at each other, then back to me. They said, "We are so glad to hear that you love them, cause we really wanted you to have them." They were so thilled that I wanted them. They really wanted the perfume bottles to stay in the family.

I waited months on end. My excitement and anticipation to get my grandma’s perfume bottle collection kept growing. I had it all planned out of what I wanted to do. I wanted to get floating shelves to put them all on.

The week after Easter, I got 2 packages from my mom and aunt. They were from my grandma’s house. I had no clue what to expect inside of the package’s. As I unpacked the boxes, I saw them. The entire collection of perfume bottles. But I also, noticed something else. There was a picture that I had drawn for my grandma in 2005. I had gifted it to her. So, I decided to make a memorial wall, in honor of my grandma.

I always looked up to my grandma. I loved calling her on the phone, and just chatting with her for even the few minutes she could stand to be on the phone. I could tell her anything, and she loved our chats. Now, I will always have something super special to me that reminds me of her that I can look at everyday.

I love you and miss you very much Grandma! Say hey to Grandpa for me. <3