I enlarged sepia-toned photos of my mother and my father and placed them in old oak frames I found at an antique shop. Underneath I placed some framed photos (wedding, farmhouse in Brandon, Vermont; my mother, age five) and artifacts (a decanter my Aunt Madge had given my mother and a doll my mother made I called "Julia" after my mother's middle name). This doll was like the pancake-faced MaryJane doll my mother made me when I was a child.
Julia is wearing my mother's watch here.
The recipe book on top was a collection of recipes compiled by the "ladies" of the First Baptist Church, Agawam, Massachusetts. Several of my mother's recipes are included under "Mrs. Charles Gay."
These two dolls my mother made from a kit later in her life. She designed and made the clothes. I placed the dolls in the far right corner of a 1950's style couch loaned to me. The girl doll is holding a photo I took of my mother on a similar-looking couch surrounded by many, many dolls (1985).
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My mother made this pink velveteen dress, actually for my daughter Angela. I included two other dresses she made to represent different stages of growing up: a baby dress and a pink satin dress she made me for a high school banquet. I used clothespins to attach relevant photos to each dress. Here is a photo of me (age 5) just after my mother gave me a Toni permanent in our kitchen.
