R is for Remember

Sharing bride-to-be suggestions at a family bride shower, my mom pulled out an old box of my great-grandma's. She grew up in the Great Depression, and kept everything that might ever become useful in the future. She had everything organized, and labeled for who it should go to when she died. When the grand-kids came searching for an old umbrella for a road show, she responded "Oh! I knew that would come in handy someday!" She then went directly to their storage place, and brought back five. Even one with just the wire skeleton. That was just typical Marie.

This elegant little striped shoe box was tied together with a ripped piece of fabric. Inside are letters. Not just any letters. Letters from my great-great-great-grandma to my great-great-grandma. Letters from the 1800's. Letters to my great-grandpa from my great-grandma. Now that might not seem like much, but to people like me who only have a few meaningful pictures of me as a baby in her arms? That's a treasure. The little things like the small antique envelopes, and her perfect cursive. It's a treasure.

That's not the only gift she's left behind. We have four large boxes of her antique hats. She collected hats, and has every kind you could ever imagine. They're the best for dress up, and Halloween. But mostly for remembering. Getting to know that woman in those pictures.

So what do we do about it? Save those kinds of things. Save the things from your childhood to give to your kids in their childhood. Save the handwritten letters for you great-granddaughter to find at the top of a closet someday. Save the city baseball legue trophies, the journals,  pictures, your favorite teddy bear. Anything that is meaningful to you, or could be meaningul to your posterity. It only takes a shoe box in the back of a closet.

-Jannallred