Aunt Loretta's chicken

Printed in the DCN Dec. 7

I have a lot of trinkets. Little glass statues of all shapes and sizes, ceramic bowls and vases. Most were gifts from friends and family. Every time I see them, I am reminded of the circumstances in which I received them.
There is the little angel my best friend gave me in fifth grade, the heart shaped ceramic trinket box my brother and his wife gave me for reading at their wedding and the glass votive a friend engraved the Iowa State cyclone into.
I recently added another trinket, and another memory to my collection.
It sat on her kitchen counter, next to her canisters. The milky white glass chicken was perched on its nest. Whenever we visited great Aunt Loretta's house, we asked if the chicken had laid anything for us. With a snap of her gum, she would tell us to go check.
As we lifted the little chicken off its milk glass nest, a trove of treasures was revealed. Sometimes there was hard candy, taffy or tootsie rolls. Never once did that little chicken fail to lay something sweet for her great-nieces and nephews. We always left with pudgy cheeks full of sugary goodness.
Growing up, I was fortunate to live within two miles of my great aunt and uncle. We rode our bikes along the dusty gravel roads to play at their house. We stopped on our way home from town and if we didn't stop we honked - the same pattern every time.
We took haven at their house when we slid through the T-intersection on our way to Christmas Eve mass. Uncle Bob was the first one I called when one of our young horses got into more trouble than I could rescue her from.
Aunt Loretta was a seamstress and made little bridesmaid dresses for my sister and I when our oldest sister got married. I hoped one day she would make my wedding dress.
Every once in a while I am reminded of them. The smell of the nicotine gum Aunt Loretta chewed or the striped bib-overalls Uncle Bob always wore. I was reminded of them again this weekend.
We spent hours wandering through the three story antique mall. I'm not much for antiques so I didn't have any idea what half of the stuff was.
I walked passed a table with vases and statues made of that familiar milky white glass. I paused long enough to spot Aunt Loretta's chicken among the other pieces.
The little white chicken now sits on our counter with sweets for any visitors that come to our home.
While I know it isn't really Aunt Loretta's chicken, it will always remind me of her and my uncle.
After all, those are the best kind of trinkets.

I had planned to just publish my columns from now on, but had a request to post this one.