Vintage Joyce Marie – who is that?
Joyce Marie was my mom, who joined my dad in heaven a few years ago. She was 86 and her passing was sudden, taking me very much off guard. My mother was still living alone, driving, very active. She was battling aging, as we all will I suppose, but not terribly sick or declining. My mother passed suddenly and to say that my life shifted, well, that is an understatement.
First, some descriptors about my mom, Joyce Marie:
Feisty, scrappy, opinionated, strong, faithful, sometimes hard, sometimes gentle, sometimes judgmental, loving, and God-fearing.
My mother stood about 5 feet tall stretching and was full of life until the very end. I lost her way too soon. The journey that I have taken since she left this earthly home has brought me closer to her than I was when she was living.
The Journey to Vintage
I had the task of going through her things, my childhood home, that consisted of decades to almost a century actually of vintage items from her, my grandparents, and even my great-grandparents. The journey was tearful, emotional, hard, but very cathartic. I realized that my mom, Joyce Marie, was so very vintage before vintage was cool. She was engrossed in succulents before they were “in” or “hip” and they were planted in every bird bath, planter, pot, jug, or crevasse of her one-acre yard.
My mom lived in Deer Park, Texas, which is a suburb south of Houston, about 3.5 hours from my home in Round Rock (just north of Austin). I was alone with the sole task of going through my childhood home and her multitude of “stuff.” For 6 months, every weekend, my husband, Roy, and I went back and forth to Houston. We would sort through decades of memories, antiques, vintage finds, and I would be remorse in not saying a good helping of just plain junk too. This journey took me places that years ago I would have NEVER thought I would be. This journey made me a lover of vintage finds, a treasurer of antiques – me, Darla (?) – who would have ever thunk it?
A lover of vintage finds, a treasurer of antiques
I was always the girl who wanted “new” stuff, loved shiny things, NEW things – I wanted it new, new, new. I changed things constantly (unfortunately for my husband, I still do that). The shinier, sparklier (is that a word?), blingier, (well, truth be told I still love bling), the better. Only in my 30’s did I start appreciating antiques and vintage items. When I began going through my mom’s house, I literally hit the motherload when it came to vintage finds and antiques.
I wish SO bad I would have taken more pictures and documented it better. But when you lose your loved one, that is not what is going through your mind. Perhaps my current passion and love for all things vintage began first because I simply wanted to surround myself with HER THINGS. There is something in an adult that “shifts” when you lose a parent. It certainly did with me. She was my best friend and I miss her so much each and every day. But, I believe that surrounding myself with things that she loved reminds me of her and that is wonderful, and the next best thing.
I could write pages on what I found, but suffice it to say, it was GOOD STUFF and has set me on a journey. I want to share some of those journeys in this space and hope to meet like-minded humans in the e-world and share treasures from the past, present, and wonderful things to come in the future.
What to expect from Vintage Joyce Marie
Thanks for visiting, please come back for journeys, vintage finds, memories, DIYs, tips, bargains, recipes, and a variety of hopefully interesting tidbits from the world of Vintage Joyce Marie.
A young Joyce Marie …
Joyce Marie in her 30’s …
Joyce Marie in 2010 at my wedding, surrounded by my friends …
