Memories

I've been immersing myself into many memories.  As part of our process of unloading material things, I went through my "memory box".  I created this box maybe 45 years ago and regularly placed memorabilia in it as the years went by.  A ticket stub from the Beatles concert I went to in Philadelphia in 1966.  Many notes and letters from my nieces and nephews.  Cocktail napkins from my sisters' marriages many years ago.  Some photos of family.  Birth announcements.  Old journals.  And I looked at and read every piece of this history.

However, the real tear jerker for me was reading notes from my parents to me going back to my childhood.  And my father was a doodler so I can't tell you how many scraps of paper I have with his unique artwork!  Letters that my parents wrote to me in college.  My parents are deceased, so as I read all of this, I did feel like I was in a room with them.  They felt so close.  Hence, the tears. 

It is hard to decide what to keep and what to part with.  A blender is one thing, but the pieces of our lives is another.  I haven't looked at all of these things in years, yet some of it can't be discarded, while other things can.  But having those "keepers" with me will feel like my family is with me.