Several years ago when I moved back to the east coast, I had no place to store the boxes that contained my childhood memories. So for several years, these boxes sat in my parents’ basement, just waiting for the day when I would reclaim them. Much to my parents’ relief, I’m sure, we moved them to our house last year where they have been in our garage gathering dust. I knew that one day I would have to sit down and actually go through them all. Yesterday was that day.
First let me say: what a mess! I found hundreds and hundreds of cards that had my mom had been collecting since I was one year old. I organized them and separated them according to who they came from. The best part of doing this was finding a stack of letters from my grandparents who are no longer with us.
I even found dozens of notes that I had passed to and from friends in the halls of our high school. I realize that these notes are 20 years old, but I still can’t believe some of the things that we wrote about. Little tidbits such as: ”Do you want to meet at our locker before 1st period so we can try to see Robert in the hall?” or “I like Trey, who do you like?” I threw some of these away but held on to quite a few of them so that I could one day show my children just how silly I was. And to show them what we used before texting came along.
Then I got to the really fun stuff: the clothes. I found baby outfits that I had worn during my first few months.
And items that were definitely reminiscent of the 70s, like this shawl that had been beautifully crocheted by a loving relative.
I was glad to see that my mother had kept some of the dresses that I had worn during photo shoots, such as this red and black checkered outfit.
And here I am modeling it on my 3rd birthday.
Then one of my personal favorites, this pink and blue camel dress.
Seen here when I must have been between one and two years old.
I’m so glad I have these outfits. I keep thinking that one day, once I learn how, I’ll use them to make a quilt or some other keepsake for my little one. But until then, they’re back in their plastic bag for safekeeping.
I found my dancing shoes, which brought back a flood of memories of all the dance classes I took.
While I don’t have a picture of me in action, I do have a picture of me in my leotard on the way to class.
I found my Girl Scout badges and handbooks, which reminded me of all the hours spent in meetings and walking around the neighborhood selling cookies. I loved Girl Scouts! Do kids even do that anymore? I hope so.
But the best thing that I found in my boxes yesterday was something that came as a complete surprise to me. And it was something that was really needed too. I found pages of handwritten notes that my mother had written about her birthing experience with me. How she went to the hospital at 10:00 am and how they gave her a pill to start the contractions (she was a few days past due). How my dad was kept out of the room and how she had the nurses help her. She didn’t go into the specifics about the pain involved, which was probably just as well. But it was amazing to read about what she went through, especially as I prepare to face that same journey in a few short months.
Then I found this, a baby book that someone had given her and that she used to chronicle her journey.
It was great. She listed her weight gain (hardly anything – I’m so jealous), and her choice of names for both a boy or a girl.
There was even a page full of exercises for designed to help her stay in shape. I don’t know how effective they would have been, but they were fun to see nonetheless.
She even wrote details about her baby shower such as who attended and what gifts they gave.
This book is priceless, as are all of the other things I found. It’s amazing to realize that my mother was once just like me – facing the fear/joy of starting a new family and all of the things that it included. It was so great to see the items that were special to me as a child and as a teenager. To remember all of the things that were once important to me like the high school newspaper staff and the French club. Things that I hadn’t thought about in years and would have probably forgotten about.
So even thought it took hours to go through these boxes, I’m so glad to have done it. And I’m glad that my mother thought to keep these mementos. I think she knew that one day they would be important to me and would be something I could pass on to my own children. I think she knew that childhood memories such as these are truly irreplaceable.
What things have you kept from your childhood? Are there things you wish you had kept?
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She didn’t fill as much in, though. 
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