. . .a long, long time ago, my grandmother asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I said that I wanted a pair of embroidery scissors shaped like a crane that I’d seen in a magazine. My grandmother approved of the fact that I embroidered, so we got on the bus and went downtown to a certain cutlery shop known to her, and there, in the case, were my scissors.
The proprietor got them out of the case so that I could see if they fit my hand — they did — and my grandmother looked them over and allowed as how they were very nice, indeed, and told the proprietor that we would take them. He went down the counter to wrap them up, and my grandmother handed me a twenty dollar bill.
“You pay for it,” she told me, “since they’re your scissors. If I gave them to you, they would cut our relationship.”
So, I bought my scissors, and gave the change from the transaction back to my grandmother, and we proceeded downtown to McCrory’s, where we had ice cream sundaes in celebration of my twelfth birthday.
Here’s what the scissors look like now:
This evening, I needed to sew buttons on a shirt, so I got out the sewing box and rummaged through until I found a spool of matching thread. It was only after I had threaded the needle that I realized the spool was wooden. Here it is:
In other news, it was hot today, for Maine values of hot, which meant windows filled with coon cats.
Here’s one:
So it’s not just my Aussie aunties that are that superstitious, huh? Cutting the relationship, hmn.
Thanks for the sewing and cat porn.
what a lovely story! Thank you for sharing it. I have very few memories of my grand parents. They were either already deceased or far away. I still have the scarf and mitten set in my school colors that my Nana made me in grade school though.
My family always believes if you ask to borrow the cutlery, you must say please, to receive and Thank you to return it. you never give cutlery without a penny, The person who gets the cutlery gives you back the penny. Therefore they bought the cutlery. and you then gift them the penny for remembrance. Otherwise relationships will be severed.
We are Americans with an Irish backstory.
I still have my childhood sewing basket (I’m now 46) and it’s still got some of the original thread, complete with wooden spools. I don’t use it often, but when I need to replace buttons I know how.
OMG! I have the same sissors. I use them all the time for embroidery, crochet, and knitting. They even have a sleeve to keep the point safe.
yep, I have the same scissors, they are so cool! My mom had a pair, and when I left home, I requested one of my own. That gift was no-second-thoughts for us; neither were the two jack-knives my parents gave me as a child (and our relationship is still good). But now I’m married to a Pole, and we can’t give or receive knives anymore, they must be bought and sold (usually for the same penny someone else mentioned). Despite having successfully received blades in childhood, I find the Polish superstition has taken root in my psyche, so I’d still follow it now even if my husband didn’t insist…