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Lost and Found
I have a jar full of plain old buttons. Matching buttons are tied together in clusters. Others still have thread in the holes
where my mother carefully clipped them from a worn shirt she was cutting into rags. She used them to replace buttons my sister,
twin brother and I frequently lost.
My mother kept her buttons in a drawer in her sewing cabinet. As a child I remember playing with them. I loved to put them
in rows, matching and sorting all the colors, shapes and sizes.
When my parent’s house in Indiana was going to be sold at auction my sister and I spent a week sifting thought the rooms and
basement looking for photos and personal items. It was a hard job emotionally to think of everything familiar being sold.
Each morning at breakfast we would choose which room we would tackle for the day. One morning my sister chose the bedroom
and my choice was the sewing room. I spent hours carefully sorting shelves of fabric which would never become the garments
my mother had planned. There were shelves of yarn, zippers, patterns and all the other notions needed for sewing. I found
scraps of fabric left from favorite dresses my mother made for me.
I decided the precious buttons had to be saved. I put them in an old canning jar from the basement. I would make a lamp out
of it. The button lamp now sits on a table in my living room.
My mother died nine years ago. Touching these simple buttons helps me stay connected to her. Remembering all the times she
sorted through them looking for the perfect match to replace a lost button helps to keep her close. I hope she is smiling
in heaven when she looks down and sees that I have her treasured buttons. They will never be lost again.
Jane Sumwalt ’89 | Guidance and Counseling
Huron, Ohio
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