Unearthing Old Treasures

Well, maybe "treasures" isn't quite the right word.

I suppose it's just proof of what a terrible housekeeper I am, and my mother must be spinning in her grave about now.

I went looking for something I had misplaced. Never did find it. But I did turn up some things that probably should have been disposed of years ago. I'm glad they weren't because they brought back memories of old friends.

First there were cards I had received when I moved into this house. Then more cards and notes from friends and relatives, sent to me after my cancer surgery. I wonder if I fully appreciated them at the time, when I was under stress and not necessarily thinking of other people so much as I was of myself. One of those was in handwriting I recognized immediately. It was from Jack, my childhood friend who died a year ago. He had suffered a long time with Parkinson's Disease, and had not been able to write letters himself for so long. Seeing that handwriting brought back a rush of feeling. There were some photographs too. I don't know why they had been left among the papers.

Next came a copy of an email I had received from Trudy, who was my youngest daughter's maid of honor. It concerned the rehersal dinner, and was written in Trudy's own humorous style. I haven't seen her in about eight years. I even found the store receipt for the outfit I wore to that wedding. I was really pleased with my outfit that day - even the big hat I wore because my hair had not yet fully grown back eight months after the chemo. I was looking good!

Oddly enough, a couple of bank statements and cancelled checks were among these keepsakes. How could I have managed to leave them with such papers?

I also found a map of Mexico, a catalog from a native plant nursery, stubs from airline tickets - Philadelphia to Los Angeles to Monterey, and a notebook in which I'd kept a record of everything I ate day to day, right after I'd been diagnosed with diabetes and the dietician had asked me to record everything for a while, counting carbs.

Do you ever run across something from years ago that you never expected to see again? Or is it just me and my careless clutter? Well, there are advantages to leaving things around to be discovered years later. I did enjoy the walk down Memory Lane. And I will make use of the native plant catalog . Don't think I'll be running off to Mexico any time soon though.