CREATIVE THINKING: These ships sail me down memory lane

In my childhood home, our small den and kitchen walls were a very dark stained paneling. Well, actually the paneling wasn't really stained wood by normal standards. It was definitely on the less expensive side, being made of thin pressed board with simulated wood grains.

I never really liked that dark stained faux wood paneling because it visually decreased the size of the already small room. Since I was the creative one in our household, I suggested we paint the paneling a much lighter beige. The room doubled in size as did Daddy's expression when he first saw the dramatic change. "You painted over wood," he said with a touch of anger in his voice. To which I replied, "Not really!"

The fresh new coat of paint opened up the room -- and all kinds of decorating possibilities. I quickly remembered a set of prints portraying ships at sea that Mother had shown me many years earlier. At first, she couldn't recollect where she had stored them for safe keeping but I continued to jostle her memory.

After a few minutes of deep thought, Mother led me to the top shelf of the hall closet. There they were, still rolled up with a piece of paper separating the two images. Mother carefully unrolled them as the paper between them crumbled to pieces and floated to the floor. The prints had certainly fared better that the paper.

I knew they would be perfect hanging in our family room. Mother told me they were special gifts from the company she worked for many years ago. It was the Insurance Company of North America and was located in the huge brick building high atop Coleman Hill, now part of Mercer University's law school. Mother had never framed them. I convinced her the time was right.

We certainly didn't have money to spend on elaborate frames, so we went to Kmart to see what they offered. I chose frames featuring a moss green stain accented with gold that I felt befitting of such special pieces of artwork. They were perfect -- well, almost! The proportions weren't exact, which left uneven borders of the ecru paper showing around the edges. I carefully cut the old prints to fit the frame -- something I knew better than to do after studying art since I was 8 years old.

Side by side, they hung on the newly beige wall near a built-in shelving unit. There they remained until both Mother and Daddy passed away. Mother only kept things that were precious to her in that area of the room. Among other showcased treasures was a quail she had carefully painted in ceramics.

Because of my special memory involving them, I knew I wanted to keep the ship prints. When our son Blake left home to go to college, we decided to re-do his room. I chose a color that was in the same family as our den had been and found the perfect place to hang those prints.

Years later when our house was open for tour, a friend of Mother's named Mary Ann Sheppard noticed them in Blake's room.

"I used to work with your mother at INA and I have a similar ship print," she told me. "I loved your mother and I want you to have it. I've never had it framed but I kept it all these years."

As time does, it quickly flew by and I forgot about the third ship print. Then, out of the blue, I ran into Mary Ann at a restaurant and she immediately reminded me. She wanted to give me the print along with some other treasures she knew her family didn't want. I was thrilled when she gave me an entire box full of memories.

In the box was a card telling the history of the ships. I knew I had to have the third print framed and hang it with Mother's other two. I smiled as I imagined that this trio of ships had once been separated at sea and now, after all these years, were together again sailing the open waters.

I knew I would never be able to find the same frame. I took the new print to have it properly framed. When I picked it up the other day it looked more regal than the other two. For a brief second, I considered having the other two re-framed. But, just as quickly as that thought came, I dismissed it.

Although Mother's frames were inexpensive and worn, my memory of them wasn't. I hung the newly framed print beside them and they all seemed to shine.

I had been given a priceless gift. Treasures once belonging to special people in our lives become vehicles transporting us all the way back down memory lane. In this case, it seems the vehicles were three ships and memory lane was a vast ocean.

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Mark Ballard's column runs each week in The Telegraph. Send your questions or comments to P.O. Box 4232, Macon, GA 31208; call 478-757-6877; email markballard@cox.net; follow him at instagram.com/markcreates; or become a subscriber to Mark's Facebook page.

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "CREATIVE THINKING: These ships sail me down memory lane ."