spruced by marlene

After my Danish great-grandmother Emilie passed away a few months ago, my mom had the difficult task of helping close down her apartment that was filled with 99 years worth of living. When mom came to visit me last weekend, she gave me two of Emilie’s old picture frames. I had hoped I might be able to have even one of them. One of my strongest memories of her apartment is the amazing amount of pictures she kept, of her many siblings, of whom she was the last one, her daughters and the rest of her big family. There were frames on every sideboard, window sill and coffeetable. I like to think that the pictures were a way for her to keep all of us around, even when she didn’t see some of us much, living far away in Germany and Spain. I’m very grateful that I get to keep this part of her with me now, in my apartment. The frames will have a place on my German grandmother Adele’s old dressing table, an heirloom I treasure just as much.