Greetings!
I took a respite from opening and organizing boxes after the move - I simply couldn't look at one more box. But lately, my office has felt restrictive and unorganized. Not good for a VA. At the end of last week, I knew it was time to tackle the boxes!
So over the weekend, I gathered 3 boxes that contained scrapbooks and pictures. I had been too busy when I was moving to even really look inside. What a find! A flood of memories came rushing back....yes, there was some tears...but mostly a look into past memories, good times, and a generation gone by.
First to tackle was the scrapbooks. 2 scrapbooks from the very early years - kindergarten, elementary and high school. What a riot! It was revealing to me what one saves from those years. Report cards, birthday cards, get well cards (from when I had my tonsils out at age 12). Mementos from trips I took with the family. A huge picture from kindergarten of all the kids...most of who I went to high school with.
On that same day, Mom sent me the obituary notice if my Kindergarten teacher. A sort of around the circle karma.
No emails, no Facebook, no Twitter. I did have hand-written invitations to parties. What made these interesting was that not only were they hand-written, but "parents will be there to chaperone", and "attire is school clothes" were quite obvious. LOL! Can you imagine putting that on FB or Twitter today. There was also an RSVP and a phone number. How adult we were. I put the name of my date on the card. LOL! These were definitely from another place and time.
Also was a card from the prom with my name and my date's name - I thought he was the love of my life until I read his note to me in the yearbook - "this has been the best 6 months of my life!" Really, 6 months...that is such a small amount of time now, but back then it was an eternity. I've been married 35 years now...ok...no jokes here.
Then there were the photos: family, friends, wedding. The wedding pictures are so funny! 35 years ago - we look like different people! Siblings from birth to college. Hmmm....there may be blackmail material here. Aunts and uncles - some living and some gone now. Nieces and nephews. And now there are my great nieces and nephews. There are the photos of a trip to Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong...a trip to Hawaii when we moved back to the states from Guam...pictures of graduations, my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, trips with friends, a trip to St. Thomas. My life all condensed into pictures and memories.
One of the most touching was the picture of my college friend, me and my dad. I was moving back East from Iowa. My friend has been a constant in my life. She introduced me to my husband. Now FB has made it so much easier to stay in touch. This picture said it all.
There was clippings about the family business, first owned by Dad and Mom, now by my brothers. I kept these...not sure what I'm going to do with them. Definite business lessons to be shared here.
I went through everything once on Saturday. Shared a lot with hubby...somehow speaking out loud of the memory made it permanent. Sunday was decision day - took the items from the scrapbook that I wanted to keep...then the rest into the trash. Not really...not in my mind...but no need to keep the physical memento. Pictures were kept. Everything was re-wrapped so as not to break.
At the end of the day, I was tired. But it was the type of tired you experience after a wedding, or a fabulous party...and I'm smiling today...content with the process.
What will I tackle next?
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