When I moved from a college dorm into an apartment, my mother helped me stock my kitchen, allowing me to use precious Greenbax Stamps to purchase a sleek white hand mixer. When she saw it, she asked to trade, offering me her Iona avocado green mixer, a wedding gift from my father’s college friend English McCutchen. The mixer was only 20 years old then, and in fine condition.
My parents were married on June 5th, 1971. It was a beautiful day and the marriage was a good one. They also got some pretty sweet gifts, many of which are still in evidence today, finally cool again, in shades of avocado green, harvest gold, and burnt orange -- including that mixer.
My siblings and I threw a party for our parents on their 40th anniversary. One of their bridesmaids still had her dress from the wedding, a lovely avocado green empire waist gown with a Mandarin collar, which we displayed on a dress form, next to their wedding album and a replica of the bridesmaids’ bouquets. Almost everyone in the wedding party made it to our celebration and the day was filled with shared laughter and memories. The party was a surprise, though my mother had been given a little notice. She was tired from her cancer treatment and we knew she needed to reserve energy for the big day. A few days before, she sent me to the attic to find her veil, which she wore to the party, with white jeans and a linen tunic.
My mother died just days later, leaving behind years of happiness. The mixer, now more than 40 years old, still runs like a dream. And when it doesn’t? I’ll get it fixed, because it’s a piece of my mom and I won’t let go.
(Images: Anne Postic)
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This is such a touching story. Thanks for sharing.
So beautiful. What a precious heirloom!
No part of that is an "uncool" tool! That mixer is AWESOME!
That mixer is THE coolest! What an incredibly sweet story, it made me smile and get misty-eyed.
*sniff*
You know, there is something about those mixers. My mom gave me mine when I set up my first kitchen, and although it's practically falling apart I can't let it go. In fact I gave my daughter a similar mixer when she graduated from college!
I know that seeing, tasting, and smelling food can evoke memories of people and places from way back when- but I was genuinely surprised and taken back a couple of weeks ago with MY mother's hand-mixer.
I was whipping egg whites to make pavlova and seeing the whirls in the meringue, hearing the beaters hit the glass bowl and smelling the hand-mixer motor transported me back to when I was a little girl. I had never made the dessert before, but the ritual sights, sounds, and smells of the mixer was all it took to for me to remember less-complicated times in my life.
I now call using the hand-mixer "baking therapy".
tearing up at work, what a sweet, beautiful story.
I know exactly how you feel, I have my grandfather's white Kitchenaid mixer (which I have the exact same one, but in pink) and was thisclose to selling it when I backed out. He taught me how to made bread using that mixer. Beautiful story, Anne!
Awesome story! Also, I am quite jealous of your very cool hand mixer.
That's a lovely picture - full of years and happiness and love. Thanks for sharing!
What a wonderful story. Thank you for sharing it! I have a 36-year-old burnt orange fondue pot that was one of my parents' wedding gifts, that was passed on to me in while I was a poor graduate student. My husband and I have created a tradition of using it for fondue at least once a year, on Valentine's Day. I will NEVER give it up!
I love how you say the mixer was "only 20 years old" when you received it. How many of today's small appliances will still be working and in good condition 20 years from now? I suspect not many.
Your mom looks so happy in that lovely picture.
Is there anything better than a loving family? NO! There is not!
This is a lovely story. Your parents looked so happy!
And, on a practical note, I really wish that instead of registering for (and receiving) a stand mixer for my wedding, I had registered for a hand-held mixer (like my mother and yours had). I hardly ever bake and the stand mixer takes up so much room for so little utility in my house. These little hand-held mixers are perfect for occasional bakers. Oh, and my mother's is close to 30 years old and works just fine.
A beautiful story there that's for sure. It gave me pause as a little bit of me inside broke - again. I know you lost your mother years ago, I just lost mine last Oct so I know how it feels.
I, too, have things that were my Mom's, including her dark brown Le Crueset 5Qt round Dutch oven. I use it with love.
I also have an old hand mixer, but was my grandmother's. A Sunbeam, sadly in basic white though. Still, it does the job very nicely and I have a vintage turquoise Sunbeam Mixmaster that still works pretty well too, and has its original matching Glass Bake bowls too.
I have my mom's cast iron skillet with lid that had belonged to my grandmother. In fact, I used it last night to cook scallops and they were terriffic. I also have several of her kitchen things and her favorite teapot that I use as well. She passed away 3 years ago at age 90. She taught me how to cook. I miss her. God bless you mom.
I have a hand mixer tha must be circa 1980 or so. I think it's a Sunbeam. It's white and brown. I got it at a thrift store. I snatched it up as soon as I saw it, because I knew it would still be working and work for years to come. I love it.
I don't have a lot of my Mom's kitchen items-a salt box that needs to be cleaned and redone. I also have a couple of her aprons. She wore aprons every time she was in the kitchen. I wear them when I'm making one of her recipes or need to feel her near me. If I'm wearing her apron, I know she's standing next to me saying, "stir slowly, not too hot, let it sit, not too fast."
I feel the same way about the toaster I have. It's a chrome Sunbeam toaster that automatically raises and lowers and toasts perfectly today. It was my grandmothers, she bought it in 1953! 60 years later, it still works perfectly.
Such a beautiful story.
Thank you for sharing that amazing story. You made me cry.
Beautiful story. I inherited by Grandmother's Cuisinart food processor after she passed away about a year ago. The machine is a beast: big, heavy and the lights dim whenever I turn it on (the plug isn't polarized and I probably shouldn't be using it!). But it works great and I think of her fondly whenever I use it.
What a beautiful story, you made me cry!
I was drawn back here to read the additional comments and now I'm wiping tears again.
"baking therapy"
I like that. This precisely describes something I've never been able to put into words before... why I find myself in the kitchen whenever I'm struggling with something. It's there that I'm reminded of the Wisdom of my grandmother shared during countless hours of our time spent in the kitchen together. And then there was my dad...
I have more than a few such 'uncool tools' in my kitchen which still function splendidly (they don't make em like they used to!) and which come with the added bonus of priceless memories. I wouldn't part with a one for all the tea in China. They are way cool in my book.
Beautiul post.
You're parents look so happy! Great post.
What a great story. Sometimes history lives on in the things that remain useful. May your mixer carry on well beyond you as well!
Oh Anne, that's every mother's wish and what I, especially after becoming acquainted with loss and forever goodbyes, aspire to...to leave behind years of happiness.