little things matter most

I am named after a lovely woman. The kind of woman everyone wants to know.

Her name is Virgina Kathleen Cheek-Mitchell and she is my great-grandmother. She passed away in July 2010 and is still being a wonderful great-grandma. A wonderful Grammy.

This is Grammy way back when...

Grammy LOVED costume jewelry. Big, colorful, and sometime a little tacky! I loved looking at all of her necklaces and clip on earrings as a little girl.

Today, my Nana (Grammy's daughter) sent me a box of Grammy's old jewelry. One necklace came with a note that said,

 "These beads I bought for a dress to attend Bob's promotion to manager"

Bob was my Great-grandpa. He died in 1969 so I never met him...neither did my parents. When Grammy passed away, my Nana said she pictured Grammy and Grandpa Bob dancing in heaven. They liked to dance.

These are the beads on me...


I can't figure out how to flip this! sorry!


Nana has a picture if Grammy in these beads and she's going to send it to me soon. I love all of these old treasures. Some are from the 60's and many look to be about 1950ish.

 This is a pearl bib necklace. Sorry it's sideways!

The most gorgeous clip on earrings! and a necklace 

My most favorite piece. An encrusted brooch.

When I was a little girl, my Grammy lived in San Diego. She always reminded me of a Golden Girl. She would sometimes send me a stick of big red gum with a small note. Just one stick of gum. She always did cute thing for me and I miss her so much!

Grammy had breast cancer and was suffering from a lost memory. How I wish I could know of her memories. This is an excerpt from her memorial page.

"Kathleen was born on February 2, 1922 in Akins, Oklahoma to Beaut and Stella Cheek.  She attended schools in Sallisaw.  In 1942, Kathleen went to Washington D.C. to work as a “government girl” in the newly-built Pentagon.  After leaving Washington, Kathleen worked as a switchboard operator at Camp Gruber when it was a P.O.W. camp.


Always an adventurous spirit, Kathleen traveled across country to California where she met and married Bob Mitchell on December 10, 1949 in San Francisco.  He preceded her in death on September 1, 1969.  Kathleen carried on, first moving to Florida before settling in Coronado, California, a place she loved.  She enjoyed Padres baseball and listening to Ted and Jerry broadcast every game. When her health began to fail, Kathleen moved to Muskogee, Oklahoma in 2007 to be near her family."

I love that she was adventurous. I love that I am named after her. I love that she was my Grammy!


Love,
 Lauren Kathleen