Tender Memories

Since we have sold our home, and will be needing to be quite frugal to fulfill our upcoming mission, we have made the commitment to reduce all of our earthly possession down to four sturdy boxes. One box will be filled with genealogy.  One will be filled with pictures.  Once will be scrapbooks, journals and other special memories. The last will be important legal documents.

For the last couple of days I've been going through the drawers of my vanity.  Every card, letter and announcement has been going into that vanity for years.   So each item in those drawers are being reviewed and sorted.  Every darling scribbled drawing, thank you note and homemade card from my precious loved ones, every note of encouragement and support from my cherished friends, every announcement, Christmas letter and yearly family photo and every single love note given to me by my beloved.  4 sturdy boxes.

Its a tender, difficult and incredibly sacred experience.

I found the letters from our oldest daughter while she was served in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm and our middle daughter's regular reports of how she was doing in bootcamp prior to her assignment in Iraq.  I remember how I looked for those letters to calm my heart and confirm that they were both alive and well.  I cried over them then, and I cried over them now.

I found the sweetest little drawings and thank-you cards from little grandchildren.

I found a funny little Halloween story about scary pumpkins and heroic little boys from my brave little son.

I found loving letters from our youngest girl who always felt the need to apologize for the smallest of infractions, silly child.

I found those yearly birthday cards from a loving mother so dearly missed.

...and every single card and letter my beloved ever sent me.

Yep, I'm keeping them.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF EM.