This is a post about “discovery.”
Today in the middle of a HUGE cleanup of my mother’s house I made a wonderful discovery!
Despite the scorching heat of our Thai weather and how busy we were with orders for our Thai Silk Magic business, I was determined to thoroughly clean my parent’s home as they are far too old to do that any more.
After pushing and struggling for an hour to move a large cupboard aside I saw a glint of something stuck to the back .
What an incredible surprise!
There firmly buried into in the ancient bamboo supports I found a photo.
Not just any photo but the ONLY photo ever taken of my mentor – my grandma! She disliked those new fangled camera things!
Although this photo is of very poor quality is by far the most important family photo I have and it has been missing for years.
By the way that’s me as a young girl sitting in front of her!
Grandma taught me so many things that have made the person I am today.
Not only did she teach and guide me how to live the best life possible (despite us having virtually no money!) she also introduced me to the amazing world of natural dyes, she inspired me to always help others and provided me with the determination and confidence to establish our handmade silk weaving business.
So you see why I called this brief post one about “discovery” – not only did I discover a long lost photo but as well seeing the photo brought rushing back all those feelings of joy, amazement, enlightenment and absolute excitement that I had everyday whilst sharing my life with my mentor – my grandma.
I will forever be in her debt
Grandma was a perfectionist with nearly everything she attempted and I remember as a young girl thinking that she was “taking for ever” to create just the right natural dye colours she was seeking.
But what a great lesson that was for me. Working with natural dyes is a passion of mine but I now also respect and appreciate the time (and at times physically hard work) that goes into our natural dye colour creations. This too is always a “discovery” trail as you never know just what types of material mother nature will provide to you from year to year and even from season to season!
More about My Mentor
If you have a moment I would love you to read more about my grandma’s impact of my life and on our Thai Silk Magic business by checking out this link - A GRANDMA’S LEGACY.
Your Comments
How have your grandparents guided your life? Is there any questions you would like to ask me about my grandma’s guidance and 
training for life? I am happy to share them as I feel I am absolutely privileged to have had some a wonderful woman as a caring, loving and at times a VERY tough old grandma!
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what a lovely photo of you and your grandma, it sounds like she has had a big impact on the direction you took with your business. I never knew my grandparents; I think it would be nice to have a wise guide/mentor, you’re very lucky
x
Stacey recently posted…New Obsession: Animal Hats/ Hooded Scarves
Thanks Stacey. My grandma was EVERYTHING to me and if you checked the link in this post you would see what a great legacy she left not just to our villager but also to our little business, Thai Silk Magic.
Wow! This is incredible! I have found many photographs of days gone by (I specialize in urban exploration photography), but I have never found any of my family. My family were different from your grandmother; they all had hundreds of photos in albums on the shelf. With the age of digital photography, the collection has literally exploded.
Thank you for sharing this photo and the story behind it!
Thomas Slatin recently posted…New Obsession: Animal Hats/ Hooded Scarves
I am pleased you enjoyed this post Thomas. My grandma was very special to me and to find the ONLY photo ever taken of her was truly wonderful.
It’s amazing what wonderful and unique things our grandmothers can teach us. From the wonderful way you talk about your grandmother in your posts, I wish I could have the pleasure to meet her. She seems like she was an extraordinary woman and very true to her values. I am so happy that you did end up finding a picture of her despite the lack of camera usage back then
No one in our family had a camera in those days. The photo was taken by our village leader who was the ONLY one with a camera!
Stephanie thank you for your very kind words and yes my grandma was an extraordinary lady.
That’s a very sweet story. I, too, have only one picture of my grandfather who died years before I was born. I grew up hearing my mother say how much he would have adored me. I cherish this picture.
Thanks Stephanie. Sometimes a simple photo can bring back a flood of wonderful memories.
Hi Amnuai,
What an amazing discovery! I also have very few photos from my parents/grandparents. Since they are old order Mennonites, they do not have cameras, and are not encouraged to ever have their pictures taken, due to the fact that they think such things could create pride, etc. The few pictures I have seen of them are also much more special because they are so rare. I have only ever seen about 3 pictures of myself when I was a child.
Needless to say, we are making sure that we have many pictures of our own two children, ages 4 & 6, so that we have visual memories of their childhood. Those young years go by so quickly, it is easy to forget the different stages of their young lives if we don’t have pictures to remind us! I am happy for you that you found the precious photo of you mentor, your grandmother. May you always keep it near!
Blessings!
Ruth
Ruth one day you must tell me more about life in a Mennonite community. It sounds very restrictive and even isolated to me but maybe I am misunderstanding what you described. You are right the photo of my grandma is VERY precious – the actual photograph was taken by our village leader and I was so sad when it went missing. Like you we have not just photographed but also video taped so many things in our family life – often driving our teenage girls crazy!!