Memories

This past weekend we packed (I think I mentioned that. A lot.)  Part of my job was to go through the closets and pack up the remaining crap we had just shoved in there.  A lot of it included "memory boxes" I've saved as I grew up.  One of them included all of the cards and programs I had from my law school graduation.  Another included all of my pictures from junior high and high school.  And another?  I found mementos from my father's family. 

I don't often talk about my father's family because we've grown apart since the passing of my Grandma.  When I was a kiddo, I was super close to my Aunt Linda, and we went over to my Grandma's house all the time when we were up from Alabama.  Aunt Linda was like another kid.  She was older, yes, but she was young at heart.  And she was crippled terribly with arthritis so she was stuck in a chair all of the time.  So I sat by her side and watched cartoons with her and made her laugh.  She was a buddy to me, a lot like I was to my oldest nephew.  I was devastated when she passed away from cancer at the young age of 34.  I was 12 at the time.

I used to write letters to my Grandma and Aunt Linda all the time.  I think that's where my whole writing obsession began.  A few years ago, my Dad got a box of items from my Grandma's house, and in there, were my letters.  I now have them in a box, and when T and I were packing we came across these.  And man were they funny.  The things I wrote in the letters were just so funny.  I could only imagine the smile she had on her face when she received them.  I'll treasure these letters. 

I also came across this card my Aunt Linda made way back in the day.  It says "Someone up there cares" and on the inside it says "And so do I."  It's not signed, but it has her initials on the back.  I have looked at this card through rough times in law school and on, and it means so much to me. 

It's amazing how much finding items like this can touch you.  And it truly made me miss both of them. 

On a funnier note, we came across a tape.  A cassette tape, for that matter.  One that I recorded back when we moved to Indiana from Alabama.  I used to record "radio shows" on my boom box, and we found one of them.  And MAN, the southern accent I had!  Hilarious!  T and I listened to the entire thing, and I can tell you this much:  1)  I had a strong accent; 2) I had quite the active imagination and 3) I was stubborn.  Very stubborn.  You could already tell from the tape. 

Oh the things you find when you clean out stuff....I can't wait to see what I find next!