A Sisters Reunion

Sunday afternoon I missed a telephone call; by the time I retrieved it, the caller was in the driveway. She wanted to be sure we were open, it being Sunday. Church and all. Our new, classy open sign reassured her we were open and our sassy daffodils waved at her. With her was a passenger who had asked to come visit me. For nearly two hours we were totally engaged and everyone was happy. Even Silvio.

Alice and Estelle were the first two visitors who that resulted in sales in the fall of 2008 from a fabulous Yankee Magazine article about how three towns in Vermont celebrated the Christmas. Estelle, 95, is full of spunk. She went around the displays to meet the dolls, picking them up, making a comment, perhaps, like most visitors, having a difficult time making a choice. She kept returning to Missy. She told me she had purchased Emily on her earlier visit but it was a Missy (confirmed by my trusty doll register) who sits on a chair in her bedroom. With a new carpeting she was tending toward blue to go with her décor. She found her. Abigail. Her daughter chose Honey to go with her Claire back home.

Choices made, we talked, shared pictures and stories about our families, toured the downstairs, chatted about our art and especially Maxfield Parrish (our coffee table book), and our cats. Alice was interested in upcoming events like Open Studio, the Quechee Hot Air Balloon Fest,

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Saint-Gaudens, and our big reunion in July and provided literature. I shared a homeschool art/writing project we did with the grandkids, and I told them of my love for writing children's stories. We agreed a great story could be told about the new Bundle sisters, Honey and Abigail, recognizing their sisters, Missy and Claire as family, back in Massachusetts! I just might do that.

I gave Estelle a Birthday Doll Workshop Calendar hoping she could celebrate her 96th birthday here. Estelle, the doll maker and the dolls were photographed. Estelle was pretty excited about Abigail cuddled in her arms and left me with a hug and an "I love you." So did Alice. What sweet connections.