This is Patty Maurer, Credit and Collections at Mele & Company, and this is "My Story".
You will never meet two more loving and generous people than my Mom and Dad. It brought them pleasure to do nice things for others. Often, they would surprise one of us, I have a daughter and 2 brothers that have wives and 2 children each, with a gift that they had heard us mention that we liked or wanted. They got such joy out of doing nice things and seeing us smile.
My Mom liked her jewelry and had a lot of it. Her love for jewelry trickled down to all of us girls-myself, my daughter, my 2 sister in laws and my niece. Often, Mom and Dad would buy multiples of things so that all of us girls could have the necklace, earrings or rings that they bought for Mom. We also have many pieces that were specific for each of us- like the gold ring they gave my daughter with the letter ‘R’ on it for her first name and one of the first pair of diamond earrings my parents ever bought me. Well, you need a place to keep all these items, and Mom and Dad bought beautiful armoires for me and my sister in laws to match hers, my daughter and niece were young at the time. Needless to say, my armoire filled up pretty quickly. We have so many beautiful pieces that were given to my daughter and I that remind us of my Mom and Dad because they gave them to us. My Mom also had a couple of jewelry boxes that she stored on top of her dresser, once her armoire was too full.
After my Mom passed away in May 2012, my Dad gave the boxes to my daughter and she now stores her jewelry in her grandma’s jewelry box. I miss my Mom every single day and think of her more times than I can count. Every morning when I go to put my jewelry on from my armoire, I think of Mom and Dad. I’m sure my Mom is smiling down on us and Dad enjoys seeing all us girls proudly wearing the jewelry they gave us.