Sunday
Jan102010
What I found in my Memory Boxes
Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 8:44AM 
I used to keep a "memory box" every year, filling it with ticket stubs and other items that would help me remember some of the people, events and places that were important to me that year. This was fine in my teen years but as I got older, my boxes took up more and more space. Yesterday I decided to go through ALL of them and do a purge, keeping only a few things.
Sometimes I'd pick up something I have absolutely no idea why I kept it, like this creepy little doll:
It must have meant a great deal to me at some point in my childhood but now? Nothing. Where did those memories go? What else have I forgotten? I used to have a great memory but as I grew older, it almost seemed as if every time something new went in, my brain had to make room by throwing out something else. Sure wish I had control over what it threw out and what it kept!
Something else that struck me as I did my Memory Box purge. Before e-mail, people spend a lot more time on correspondence. Some of the letters I received (and sent, I'm sure) were many pages long. HANDWRITTEN. How often do any of us do that now?
Found (and threw out) my old scientific calculator. It had seemed SO high-tech back when I received it as a gift. Now an iPhone app can duplicate its functions and more.
Found the receipt for my very first Macintosh computer, purchased when I was a student at the University of Toronto:
A couple copies of TV Guide's Farewell To Star Trek, which contained a simplified version of my "Neurotic Love Song" lyrics, which Urban Tapestry went on to perform in concert:
Breakfast orders scribbled on an envelope the morning of my wedding, when I stayed at the Millcroft Inn with my bridesmaids:
My old roleplaying dice and a leather bag whose origin I forget:
One of the hand-painted wedding program covers I made for Jim and Diane for their wedding:
As you may have guessed by now, going through those memory boxes was an emotional rollercoaster for me as I came across reminders from almost every significant event in my life, from early childhood through to the present. Cried lots. Jeff was there throughout for hugs when I needed them, carting away stuff I wanted to throw out, packing up anything I wanted to keep, coming over when I wanted to show him something or just to talk.
You can see some of the items I've found so far in my Flickr set. I'll be adding more over time.
It feels good to be doing this. Cathartic, in a way, and giving me perspective. One of the high points: I was going through some of Jeff's old love letters and notes from nearly 25 years ago when he came over. He gave me a hug from behind and murmured in my ear: "I love you more -now-, you know."
I adore that man.
Above: photo by Jeff Kesner.
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Reader Comments (8)
What a great idea... I wish I'd done that. Forty isn't too old to start, is it?
You have a great husband. :)
Wow -- memories. I love the wedding photo!
I bet that letter to Trudi *really* touched the old heartstrings.
I'll just stay out of your way for a few weeks until your addled brain forgets all about it again...
Don't forget, Trudi was a Real Astralian Terrier. Not one of those fake ones they have now on reality shows..
Wow. That sounds so much like my life. All the souvenirs I've kept over the years. I really should make a scrapbook from them.
I kept boxes like that, too. I started sometime in elementary school, then stopped in high school. I'm only 21 now, but going back through them is pretty much exactly as you've described - some hold memories, which send me reeling back to the past, but others are just blanks. Sometimes I wish I still kept my boxes, but I had to stop sometime. Life got too complicated to put it all in a box.
What a great wedding photo. Wish I had one of those!
Awwwwwww. That's so touching, Deb. I'm sitting in the airport waiting for my flight home now trying not to get all weepy-eyed at that last bit from Jeff (and missing my own hubby who I'll be seeing very soon now after a while away from home). How very sweet. :}