Kim Wilbanks

Always Looking For Something

Have you ever misplaced something in your house that you knew was there? Somewhere? Have you ever spent hours looking for that item, retracing your steps to the same five or six spots repeatedly, as if it would have magically appeared while you were in another room? I have. Often.

The most recently misplaced item was a canvas print of my mom. This wasn’t just any canvas print—it was my mom as Queen Ann.

Our Favorite Queen

I don’t know exactly how, or when, but somewhere along the way, my mom’s alternate persona became Queen Ann. She truly was our Queen Bee. She attended a royal wedding watch party as Queen Elizabeth in 2011 and knighted Sir Higgins in 2015. It was a role she took seriously.

I found the perfect Christmas present for her on what ended up being her last Christmas in 2022. There was a company that would insert your loved one’s photo into a painting of royalty. I knew my mom would love it.

When we had our Christmas celebration, we all anxiously watched as she opened her gift. It was THE BEST reaction to a Christmas present I have ever witnessed. She laughed so hard when she opened it she almost cried; it was hysterical—one of my favorite mom memories.

We used that canvas print at the reception following her memorial service. My friend Trish gave me the idea for the cake it sat beside. The cake said, “You Will Always Be Our Queen.”

That was September 23, 2023, and the last time I saw the print.

I didn’t give it much thought until this September, around her birthday. I wanted to display it, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I searched the memory room upstairs, where all the pictures were stored, but it wasn’t there. It wasn’t in any of the boxes I brought over from her house (which I still need to go through). It wasn’t in the dining room or the closet in my bedroom. And I looked in all of those places multiple times.

I texted my daughter to help me brainstorm where it could be. I called my sister-in-law to see if they had it. I talked to my friend about my dilemma. No luck on any of those avenues. It was gone. I knew I could order another one if I wanted to, but it wasn’t the same.

Decorating For Christmas

Fast forward to the middle of November. My husband and I are meeting our two kids and two grandsons in the mountains of North Carolina for Thanksgiving. We will be with the same group in Nashville for Christmas. Since Thanksgiving is so late this year, and there isn’t much time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I decided to put up my Christmas decorations early—the earliest ever. I normally wait until after Thanksgiving, but I desperately needed a dose of Christmas cheer.

I inherited some of my mom’s Christmas decorations—a painting of Santa with a long list of names including everyone in our family, the frame for our annual crazy Christmas photo, and, best of all, her Nativity set, made by my great-aunt Lily. It’s the ceramic set that was so popular in the 1970s. I had the same set painted in blues and whites like the Lladro figurines that used to be popular, but I liked my mom’s set better. Aunt Lily painted it realistically, and the wise men had jewels glued on their clothes and gifts. (I know. The wise men were not there at the birth of Jesus, but for the sake of decoration, it works).

We always displayed our Nativity set on our piano in the living room. When I turned my living room into my craft room (another story for another time), we moved the piano to the dining room. The dining room was very crowded, and no one played the piano, so we gave it away. That led to a Christmas dilemma. Where were we going to put the Nativity scene?

Hidden In Plain Sight

Last year, the first Christmas without my mom, we put it on top of our entertainment center. It was okay there, but you couldn’t see the baby Jesus. I decided to try it on the next shelf down. I measured, and the shelf was tall enough so I removed the Christmas pictures of my kids to prepare for the shift. When I moved to the last picture, something caught my eye, and I gasped! It was the canvas print of Queen Ann! The canvas print turned sideways, was not visible until I moved the other pictures. The funny thing is, I have no recollection of putting it there!

I immediately texted my daughter and then my friend with the good news. My daughter told me it was like Mom was helping me find her missing picture. If I hadn’t cleared off that shelf to make room for her Nativity scene, I wouldn’t have found her picture. There’s no telling how long it would have remained hidden—possibly until my family had to empty my house after I was gone.

I was ecstatic to find that picture. It’s nothing valuable like jewelry, but it’s special to me. Finding it brought back wonderful memories of Christmas with my mom. It makes me wonder what may be hiding in drawers or on shelves around my house. Perhaps it’s time to think about a good spring cleaning. 

What about you? Have you ever misplaced something important and then later found it? Do you also tear your house apart and go back to the same spots dozens of times, hoping it will reappear? I’d love to hear.