Collection n. 1. The act or process of collecting or being collected. 2. any group or things systematically assembled, esp. a. specimens or collectables acquired by specialist or hobbyist d. a line of fashionable clothes, cosmetics, furniture etc. offered by a designer or retail store 3. accumulation a master pile (a collection of dust) 4. a. The collecting of money esp. in church or fore a charitable cause b. the amount collected 5. the regular removal of mail, garbage etc. for dispatch or disposal. Compact Oxford Canadian Dictionary
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Crystal glasses
China dishes
Silverware
A baby’s First
Year – by Dr. Benjamin Spock
1 white child (Susan)
“Baby and
Childcare” by Dr. Benjamin Spock
“The Ugly Duckling” by Hans Christian
Andersen
Marionette puppets
1 white child (Ann)
Encyclopedia Britannica (red bound edition)
Encyclopedia Britannica (white leather bound edition)
1 white child
(Michael)
Clara’s Cloths (in
her closet)
Hexie (a nasty dog)
Photo albums on the bottom shelf of the oakwood bookcase in the living room:
Of first birthdays (Susan, Ann and Michael)
Of Adoption advertisements in newspapers (for John, Myra, Angela and William)
Of every Christmas celebrated (photos opening up presents with smiles, and the rotten banana peel Santa left in William’s stocking)
Of every Easter dinner (where we all drank tomato
juice in crystal glasses)
Of every New Year’s Day dinner (and the goose that
Abiather carved)
Of the three trips to Jamaica (Abiather and Clara
took)
Of every present sent to the family in
Jamaica
Of the beaches in Barbados
Of the flowers in
St Lucia
Of the trips to Pennsylvania to visit the Hutson’s
(some took)
Of the trip to Nova Scotia (when William and Angela
stayed behind)
Of summers spent at the trailer that sat on a plot at
Wellers Bay (where we swam, water skied, were teased, where we fought and where
we roasted marshmallows)
Of every birthday celebrated
Of presents
opened
Of the two cakes that Clara would make (one for
William and one for Angela)
I’m OK – You’re OK by Thomas Anthony Harris
Clara’s cloths (in Abiather’s closet)
A Black child (John)
Nail polish in neutral tones, varying shades of pinks, taupe and peach (so after Clara finished her cigarette after dinner and finished biting her nails she could paint her nails)
Another Black child (Myra)
Clara’s shoes (walking
shoes, kitchen shoes, warehouse shoes, winter boots, walking shoes, more pumps
and slippers bought from Eaton’s, the Hudson Bay Company and Sears Canada)
Clara’s clothes
(in every child’s closet)
A set of Black twins (Angela and William)
Duchess – (terrier whippet hound mix)
A family of mice (that Abiather caught)
2 years-worth of can goods and boxed pasta (pork and beans, beans, kraft dinner, peas, cream of corn, carrots, fruit cocktail and canned peaches) and preserves that Clara made (strawberry, and raspberry jam, peach and cherry preserves stored in the fruit cellar)
Clara’s cloths and coats in every closet in the house
Mollie and Griffie (terrier dogs)
Many cars [Chryslers Valiant Charger, Chrysler New Yorker, Chrysler New port, Chrysler Lazar (recalled- Abiather’s dream was short lived), Chrysler Fifth Avenue, …]
Screw drivers, hammers, saws, garden and lawn tools
***
The kiss they collected from Angela every night before she went to bed. Whether she wanted to or not.
