About the "Something Borrowed" at my wedding. . . .

When writing about getting ready for my wedding. I related how

my mother put into my hand the beautiful white handkerchief with

the delicate crocheted edging that she carried when she and my

father were married. It was the same handkerchief that her mother

had carried on her wedding day. She told me it was the "something

borrowed" I would carry to my wedding and that I would carry

it again when George and I were sealed in the temple.

For many years, my sisters and I shared in the joy of collecting

dolls. It was more than a hobby to us. It was something we all

loved and could do together. I have often reflected on the happy

times we shared as we searched together for that "perfect doll",

the one that was our heart's desire, the one that we just had to

have. Searching for that doll gave us an excuse to be together. It

fueled our excited phone calls late at night or very early in the

morning. It gave us the joy of receiving or sending, a spontaneous

gift to a beloved sister. I remember searching in England and Germany the summer I traveled there, for a doll for each of my sisters. I remember several occasions when I opened a

package from a sister and found a doll nestled lovingly in tissue

paper and smiling up at me as I looked at her.

I have loved going to my sister's homes and looking at their dolls

and the way they are displayed. I have particularly enjoyed

looking at the dolls in the hutch in my sister Delores' home. She

is the sister closest to my age and we were childhood playmates.

We did everything together. We often dressed alike and shared

many of the same friends. In her hutch, she has some of the same

dolls that I have displayed in my home. They speak to us of a

Christmas from our childhood. When I see her Doc doll from Snow

White and the Seven Dwarfs smiling at those who look at him, I

smile, because at home my Doc smiles at me and reminds me of

a gift from our brother Leo who bought him for us on a joyful day

in Provo, Utah, when we were little girls. We have loved him

since our childhood.

Edna didn't feel that she had money to buy dolls for her sisters,

so she began buying paper dolls for us. Soon, we all were adding

to our paper doll collections. It was a race to see who could find

the latest Hallmark paper doll birthday card for their sisters.

We enjoyed buying the modern paper dolls and searching in

gift shops and antique stores for old ones. We were always

trying different ways to exhibit them. Edna spent many hours

cataloging hers and putting them into albuums. Mine are carefully sorted but they are not on display. I look at them often but few

see them.

Besides collecting dolls, we all tried our hand at making a rag,

bisque, or composition doll. Some were better at this than others. We all dressed a doll, or dolls, in clothes we designed and sewed. Martha and Theresa were the most talented at designing and making the clothes. The rest of us benefited from their talent as they helped us in our endeavors.

Theresa is the sister who excelled in making rag dolls and teddy bears. She helped me make my first Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls

for my little nieces, Marsha and Ann, and later for my own children.

We spent many happy evenings embroidering the faces, stuffing

the bodies, and making their clothes. Mother was an expert in rag

doll making. My children were the recipients of sock monkeys and

stuffed animals. She lovingly made beautiful rag dolls for Rhonda

and her other grandaughters. I am sure that is where Theresa got

her love for making such beautiful rag dolls.

I never tried to make a Teddy Bear. I have several adorable bears that Theresa made for me in all sizes, from tiny two inches to eighteen inches. She dressed some of them and others came with beautifully crafted assessories like the stick horse the cowboy teddy bear has.

Martha excelled in making bisque and composition dolls. She was meticulous in making sure that they were accurate in every detail. She researched the hair and clothes before finishing a doll. She searched for hours for the perfect wig. If she was creating a vintage "antique" doll, she shopped antique stores for material for the clothes and if she couldn't find a dress or coat pattern she liked, she created her own. At one time or another, together or alone, we all made a bisque doll and dressed it. I also took a class and made a doll with my daughter-in-law, Joanne.

The pictures I have posted with this story are of a doll Martha made from the mold of a French Bru. She made one for each of us. She found the material for the dress at an antique store that stocked old vintage material. What makes this doll so special is the collar and the beautiful lace trim on the dress. After mother's death, Martha was going through an old trunk mother kept in the closet of our little home in Panaca. She found the beautiful white handkerchief, the one that was the "something borrowed" I carried at my wedding. She also found the dress my father wore when he was blessed in 1887. The dress had deteriorated and turned yellow with age but the lace trim was beautiful and unblemished. Martha cut the handkerchief into two pieces. She fashioned them into collars for the dresses. She added the three delicate blue bead flowers and some lace from Dad's christening dress to finish them. She then trimmed the skirt of the dress with more of the lace. The finished doll is beautiful. I will forever cherish it because my sister made her for me and because her clothes are finished with a collar made from the handkerchief carried by my grandmother at her wedding. Namie then gave it to my mother who carried it when she and my father were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

The tradition was then carried on as Mother gave it to me to carry at my wedding and to full fill a promise she made to me, that I would carry it again when George and I were sealed in the temple.

I did carry it on June 21, 1958. On that beautiful day, George and I kneeled at the alter and were sealed as husband and wife. Then Paul and Rhonda were brought in and sealed to us and we became a family sealed together in love, for time and all eternity. I remember looking at my mother holding Rhonda in her arms with Paul at her side. Uncle Viv and Aunt Wanda and Delores and Pete were there. Thank you. Martha, for such a special gift. This doll is very special to me. I will cherish her as long as I live and hope that after I am gone, Rhonda will take her and love her as I have.