Grandma's Embroideries

 They're  the work of a young person, certainly. But they're very crude and basic. And yet my mother apparently loved these small pieces of embroidery made by her own mother. Thus this note in a plastic bag along with four small pieces of fabric:

 I have seen the fabrics before but I didn't know what happened to them. With Mom gone now for nearly two years they might have languished hidden for the rest of my life. But last weekend I was looking in Tom's closet for a blanket when Tom opened a box and the plastic bag was lying on top of other handmade items.

 I've always known where one of the fabrics was - though I didn't know what it was. I just figured it was placed on a desk to prevent the decoration that stood on it from scratching the wood ...

 Mom must have especially liked this one with grapes. There is another in the plastic bag so they are a set ...

 And there are also two of this one ...

 And finally this one ...

 My grandmother, Katherine (Huesman) Paulsen was born on 10-12-1891 and married to John Paulsen on 4-25-1925. So since Mom thought the embroidery was done before she was married, they predate 1925.

 As I said, they are very crude but they are also precious for their connection to my young grandmother. They reach now across a century and teach both Tom and I a valuable lesson: value is not measured in skill but in the love it contains.

[Note: I have been told these are handkerchiefs]