My Mother's Birthday, My Sister and the Peacock Princess!

Today, January 6, 2025, would be my mother's 108th birthday! Sadly, she's been gone from us, but happily into heaven since 2006, which is almost 19 years already.  It's hard to believe she's been gone that long, but one thing I've learned about the death of our loved ones, even though they are gone from us physically, I never really feel like they are gone from us in a spiritual sense. I don't mean that to be morbid or weird...but if you've lost someone very dear to you, you understand what I mean.  You feel their presence in so many little ways...sweet memories, things you do and say that make you stop and say, "I sound just like my mother!", sweet fragrances that remind you of the things she loved...the scent of lilacs, the welcoming aroma of an apple pie baking, or warm cookies fresh out of the oven...or perhaps the way you appreciate the beauty of a spring day with flowers blooming...or the sound of the autumn leaves crunching under your feet as you walk through the woods on a crisp fall day...or the joy of taking a walk through freshly fallen snow, bundled up and marching around and around as the snow gently falls on your face and makes your cheeks rosy and your nose so cold...These are just some of the ways I remember my Mama...these were things she loved, and when I've experienced any of these events or fragrances or sights I think of her and how she would've loved being there too.  And so today, on her birthday I want to honor her memory...and also share something else that we have in common...

Dorothea May Tedlie Mursch, January 6, 1917~May 7, 2006.

This picture was taken when she was 70! Yes, you can say it...she was beautiful, and she never looked her age! I used to brag about how young she looked and I would ask my friends to guess how old she was, and they'd always guess something at least 10 years younger than she was, and then I'd tell them how old she really was and they'd be amazed. My mother would get upset with me for telling her age, as that was not proper to do. But I was proud of how beautiful she was and I wanted to share that amazing information! LOL.

Here's a few links to other posts I've written about my mother:  (I share them here also for my own recollection of where to find these posts when I'm looking for them!)

Celebrating My Mom

 Link to some family memories of my mother

Link to "Remembering Mama"

The Pie Legacy

The Autograph Book and my life verse

So I've written all this to bring us to another facet of my mother's life that has trickled down into my own life...her love of dolls!  My mother had a beautiful collection of Madame Alexander dolls that she enjoyed displaying for people when they'd come to visit their home, many of whom came to also see my father's toy train collection. They both enjoyed their hobbies during their retirement years, and their love of these collections sort of rubbed off on me...not to the extent that they collected these things, but my appreciation of them stems from their interests.  Sadly, I cannot find a picture of my mother's doll collection. I know I have one somewhere, and when I do find it I will share it, but it's proving to be more challenging than I thought and I don't have to time to keep searching right now or this post will never get written today!     I found a picture! It's not the best, and I'm sure this was early in her collection because I know she had more dolls than this, but this will give you the idea:

What used to be "my sister's and my bedroom" in my parents' home became my mother's "Doll Room" and sewing room after we both got married and moved out.

HERE is a Link to the history of Madame Alexander Dolls

I was also given some Madame Alexander dolls as gifts throughout my childhood and later years. Here they are, because, yes, of course I've saved them all these years:

This is my first "Wendy" Madame Alexander doll. She is called "Wendy", because that is the design/face of this particular doll.  My grandparents gave me this doll when I was quite young, maybe 7 or 8 years old. She's 8" tall, and had several outfits, but is wearing the one I remember most. It also came with a white fur muff, but I think that is long gone. Sadly, this dolly is sitting in the china cabinet because her moveable/bend at the knee legs eventually came loose and fell apart. I still have them, and if I was smart I'd figure out how to fix them, but for now she is happy to sit among the china and crystal of the antique china cabinet. You will notice that she has red hair, which was significant for me as a redheaded child.

Somewhere along the line of life my mother gave me these next two dolls, which are also in the same "Wendy" face design, but they are dolls that represent different countries. This first one is Miss Scotland...

And this little red-headed lass is Miss Ireland. 

And I know you've seen this young lady before in some of my posts. This doll came from my mother's collection after she died. It's the only one that I wanted. Many of the others were given to other female members of our family, especially each of my mother's granddaughters and great-granddaughters. Any left over were sold in my family's estate.  But this one is special because she is the "Anne of Green Gables" doll, and I've told you many times that my mother named me for Anne because she always loved reading her story, and when my mother saw that I was a redhead, she said that my middle name would be "Anne" after Anne of Green Gables. So that is why I am named Pamela Anne with an "e", if you understand the significance of that "e" from Anne of Green Gables' stories. (click that link for more about this story)

And so now this all brings us to the next chapter of today's story. Yes, it is about my mother to celebrate her memory on her birthday, but it is also about her love and my "collection" of the Madame Alexander Dolls and it's further reach into my life today.  Many of you have seen the stories about my dollhouse, "Pamela's Victorian Cottage". If you click on the link in the right column of my blog page for Pamela's Victorian Cottage, you will find the whole history of it from the beginning.  Here's a link  to one special time when my sister Doris came to visit and we enjoyed "playing" together like little girls again...which is appropriate for this post, because my sister also shares the love of these Madame Alexander Dolls, and she is the amazing benefactor "Auntie from the City"

who keeps bringing new members to the family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage each year at Christmas! (these pictures are from 2023)

And this year is no different, even though my sister has been sick with a bad cold bug and couldn't come visit in person, she sent her sweet little gift by way of my sister in law last week when we met.  So here's the gift you've been waiting to see:

Isn't she beautiful?  Yes, this is a 2024 Hallmark Christmas ornament created with the Madame Alexander doll design.  Every year Hallmark comes out with a new Madame Alexander doll ornament, and my sister started giving me one each year for Christmas quite a few years ago. I think I just counted 11 of them, to be exact!  Some of you have asked me before where my "family" members came from for Pamela's Victorian Cottage, and now you know!  This particular doll is called "Peacock Princess", and so I had to look that up because I had no idea who she was. I don't have any little girls in my life who want to see all the princess movies or read all those stories, so I am out of the loop when it comes to Princesses.  

Here is a link to the Wikipedia info on the original Peacock Princess story.   

And this is the "AI overview:

"The "Peacock Princess" story, often originating from the Dai people of Yunnan Province, China, tells the tale of a beautiful princess who is often depicted as a magical peacock maiden, where a young prince falls in love with her, usually by encountering her while she is bathing in a lake; however, due to a trickster or evil force, the couple faces challenges, often including a separation where the princess must transform into a peacock to escape danger, ultimately reuniting with her prince and overcoming obstacles to live happily ever after."  According to the Wikipedia story, "The Dai people worship peacocks as being messengers of peace, kindness, love and beauty."

I looked up some other references to fairytale stories about the Peacock Princess, and some were good, and some tended to embrace a kind of woke and new age legend, and I was not too impressed with those.  So let's just enjoy our beautiful new addition to our family and make up our own story, shall we?

As always seems to be the case, right on Christmas day there is a wonderful mystery guest waiting at the front door...

Waiting around the corner of Pamela's Victorian Cottage is someone we've seen before...

Yes, the beautiful "Auntie from the City" has arrived, and as always she brings some exciting gifts for the little family at Pamela's Victorian Cottage...

But she is not alone...she has brought along some "Heavenly Messengers" to help out in presenting this wonderful "gift"...

Yes, our angel friends have flown in just for this very special occasion! 

They want to make sure that our special new visitor is welcomed with open arms...just like Mr. Snowman is ready and waiting with "open arms"!

Pretty soon the little Mama comes to the door, and is totally surprised to find this beautiful little girl dressed in a peacock blue coat and hat, and carrying a bag made of peacock feathers!

"Oh My Goodness!" She exclaims!  "Where did you come from?"

She looks to her left, and then to her right, and sees the little angels that she has become very familiar with over the years!  "Oh Dear! It looks like God has sent us another new little girl to live with us!"

Then she looks around the corner of the house and sees her sister, "The Auntie from the City", standing there with a big smile on her face!

"Oh Dear Sister, I should have known you would have something to do with this!"  "Well, let's don't just stand out here in the cold..."

"Let's go inside and meet all your new sisters, who are anxiously waiting to welcome you to the family!"

"Come on in and warm up with a cup of hot tea".

They are busily getting things ready to make you feel right at home...

And you are all welcome to come and enjoy our Christmas day with us!

There's plenty of food and gifts and love for everyone!

And for our beautiful little Miss Peacock Princess, there will always be a very happy ending for your story!  God has brought you to a home filled with love and laughter and the love of Jesus in every room.  And here we can all be His messengers of peace, kindness, love and beauty."

Galatians 5:22-23 

"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law."

I hope you enjoyed this little story of the Peacock Princess finding her new home at 

Pamela's Victorian Cottage.  I think my mother would've loved this story and this sweet little doll, and this is a fitting tribute to her on her heavenly108th birthday.

And a special thanks to my sister Doris, the "Auntie from the City" who has made this sweet story possible.  

Oh! I almost forgot...there's one more little gift that she gave me for Christmas...this adorable little trinket dish:

Awwww, I love this, don't you?

Thank you, my sister Doris.

And thank you to our mother, who instilled us with this love of playing with dolls from the time we were little girls.

My sister Doris, our Mother Dorothea, and me, Mother's Day 2003

And Thank You, Jesus, for giving us the joy of living and loving!

Amen.