Grandma Boitano

It seems like the ball is finally rolling...

I cleaned up Organic Matters' backroom last weekend. It was an action that I have been resisting since I decided to close. I was shocked to see the amount of fixtures I had collected over the years! The evidence made me feel closer to my Grandma Boitano, since she too, liked to collect things.

My grandparents were Italian. They farmed in the Fife Valley amidst other Japanese and Swiss cultures. Needless to say the depression influenced my grandparents. My Grandma never threw out anything. She thought everything had value. She was a real entrepreneur.

I remember being 7, or 8 years old and I was learning to sew by hand. Finding unusual things like an old sequin, or a skinny piece of elastic made my creations interesting. I could always find something valuable in Grandma Boitano's sewing drawers to embellish and increase the personal value of my art. I was hardly ever disappointed.

As I got older, I wondered why she would save things in her sewing drawers that seemed useless to me, like an old bra strap, mismatched buttons, or nearly every color of thread imaginable. Even the tools found in the drawers seemed old and I often wondered how they were to be used.

Sometimes, I would stay overnight at my grandparent's house and my Auntie Linda would host a late night tea party while we watched Johnny Carson. The next day would bring a host of light jobs such as doing dishes, organizing the pens and paper at the phone desk, or raking the chestnut leaves off the driveway.

One time I was alone in my grandma's kitchen and noticed the counters were cluttered with baby jars half filled with herbs that looked so old, I thought they were useless. I threw the jars away and wiped down the counters so that my grandma could spaciously prepare food that night. I quickly got an earful of Italian for my efforts. I never threw away anything before asking again!

When my Grandparents passed, there was an opportunity for us grandchildren to have some mementos. I chose a hand blown violet glass dish which was probably used as an ashtray. To me, however, it signified the style and pleasure around which the adults laughed and socialized. Occasionally, it got moved from the living to the dining room, but it always had a place in their home. Today, I keep it on my living room table and every time I dust, it reminds me of them.

I am also the keeper of my Grandma Boitano's sewing machine and desk of drawers. The sewing machine doesn't work any more, but the drawers are still littered with remnants of her curiosities.

Hopefully Organic Matters' treasures will be discovered by another creative soul, just waiting to make art from it all. Since I'm selling everything, my Grandma can't yell at me in Italian, either. She'd be proud of me for being a business person to the end.