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Sunday, July 6, 2014

"MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S SCISSORS"



You know how it is—you inherit things, put them aside or in a china cabinet and never use them ever. That’s what happened to my great grandmother’s scissors that my grandmother had kept. And my grandmother died 43 years ago. For 43 years, I stared at those scissors and never used them. If you were to see them closed, they look like a dagger but the handles have inlaid pearl on them. Sharp doesn’t begin to describe them.

About four months ago, I went to my china cabinet, took out those sharp scissors and decided to use them and use them I have. And why not? While I have been using them, a strange thought occurred to me: These scissors are cutting things that my great grandmother couldn’t have conceived in her wildest dreams such as plastic coatings on packaging that no one can get open except with the use of them. They’ve cut open ends of microwavable dinners [Could she imagine that at all?,] bagged cat food, blazing hot frozen peas in a plastic bag, tags off of garments and things and the list goes on forever of things that we take for granted and yet were not invented in her lifetime at all.

I can only hope she somehow knows that her great granddaughter is using her treasured scissors for when she used them, they were for her trade: Dressmaking. Maybe she’s scorning me for a dressmaker I’m not, I can’t sew a lick. But I sure can cut things and when I paint on watercolor paper, I use those scissors to trim the paper.

Moral is: If you inherited something and are just looking at it, use it. Don’t let it just sit there forever collecting dust. I am loving these scissors and yes they’re sharp but also beautiful. Can only hope that I don’t misplace them and wind up sitting on them for that would be the end of me. Now that’s a scary thought but knowing how star crossed I am, it could happen. Let’s hope not. Meanwhile, I’m loving my great grandmother’s scissors.


Sherry Hill Copyright © 2014
Sherry Hill
All Rights Reserved

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