The Lane Cedar Chest

A Lane Cedar Chest. My mother had one exactly like this. As a child, I was fascinated by the treasures it held. Once opened, the unmistakable, sharp scent of cedar greeted me. For all of my life that smell brings me back to those early years where I was aware that secrets of my parents lives were held inside that cedar chest.

Deep down underneath blankets and handed down doilies and crochet pieces, and lying nestled below layers of tissue paper was my mothers wedding gown. Can you imagine the curiosity of a little girl about this part of her parents life that she had no part in?

I remember reaching down under the tissue and finding the silky, satiny coolness of that gown and stroking it as though somehow in doing that I became part of the day they became husband and wife. It was a heady feeling for a somewhat precocious little girl who felt a deeper belonging to her Mother and Father after every time she found the key and opened the lid to a past she was not a part of.

The cedar chest is long gone but remains in my memories as fresh as the aroma of the cedar that beautiful chest held