Does anyone else have a junk drawer that is basically a black hole? It’s full, but of who knows what? Recently, I spent hours going through one of these looking for something. Of course, it never appeared but some other really cool stuff did. I ended up reminiscing through pictures, children’s art, cards and very old documents from my grandparents. I highly recommend doing it sometime. Just sit down and take an inventory of your past years. Updated perspective is truly remarkable.
Some of the amazing items found were over a hundred years old. I happened upon my grandfather’s 1926 certificate of initiation into the Alpha chapter of Pi Kappa Phi at College of Charleston. I also found a tenant farmer deed that was originally signed in 1884. It was glued to the new one signed and notarized in 1909. I have no idea what to do with it but just touching the papered history of my family felt special. The children’s art is way too numerous to detail, but I loved the preschool mom letters. Ridiculously cute, they described me as 45 pounds and basically perfect (where did that opinion go?). A prized find was a tiny journal I had jotted some hilarious encounters with my children in. If any of you still have small children around, it is so worth it.
One entry in the journal had me at dinner with two of them. Apparently, one son wanted to say the Lord’s Prayer since he recently learned it. He began and then I noticed he said, “And lead us into temptation…” Upon finishing, I corrected him that it was actually, “And lead us NOT into temptation.” He shrugged and said, “What’s the big deal? It’s only ONE word!” Another was driving home from school, our daughter was reading about the Holocaust. She shared a very tragic story of a woman whose husband was shot in front of her and she delivered a stillborn days later. It was a very somber, quiet moment until my son said to me, “And you think YOU have stress!” (He had a very good point.)
As funny as the stories were, the art sweet, and the old pictures meaningful, I was amazed at the feeling of positivity that came from reminiscing. It was like looking back through a filtered, edited frame that provided good light and a beautiful landscape of my life. Sometimes, saved clutter can be good thing (sorry, Martha).
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Fourundertwo 