MEMORIES

Lets start by saying sorry for the gap in blogs.  Its been busy around here with settling into the new place, wonderful grand kids and visits from the Michigan Man. As you  may have noticed I usually only blog when I am bored, angry or unhappy. The past month has been filled with so many blessings that my brain hasn't had time to write. That's a good thing for me but I know some of you seem to enjoy my ramblings and so I apologize to all for my lack of attention to your needs.
With that said let me tell you about one of the BIG things that is taking my attention these days.Ever  since I sold my wonderful home that Ger and I shared here in Florida I have had to rent a storage unit for all the "things" that I just couldn't part with but didn't have the space for in my tiny tiny cave of a condo. The majority of those things being photo albums. LOT AND LOTS of photo albums. My close friends and family can tell you that I always have a camera in hand and love to capture every moment when I'm with those friends and family. Over 45 years that adds up to A LOT of pictures. And being the compulsive person that I can be I always was right up to date in putting the photos into albums so that the memories would be saved forever or until I croak and my kids toss EVERY THING into a dumpster. Because you know that is exactly what is going to happen. And so to spare my children the burden of tossing all these albums I decided to go through them and take out all the photos that my kids and friends might like and toss the rest. Who knew what a Herculean task this would be when I finally emptied the storage unit and brought all the "stuff" here to the new condo.
The photo albums are now in a plastic bin in the shed that is attached to my new condo. Most people keep garden tools in their shed. I have photo albums!
The trip down Memory Lane starts in 1973 when Kyle was born. Good God were my children EVER that small and adorable? It's funny how I can look at some of the photos and remember the EXACT moment when that picture was taken and others are just a blur of a memory from Oh so long ago. I feel like I am a traveler in time, visiting places and people that I haven't thought of in years. The vividness of the memories amazes me and has brought about a ton of tears and just as  much laughter. I just keep saying over and over, "Where have those years gone?" How is it possible that I have traveled through this life so quickly and reached this point where my brain is filled with so many memories? How blessed I am to have these memories and how blessed I have been to have had all these amazing experiences over the years.
I have albums and albums recording our 10 years of family camping trips all over the United States. These make up the bulk of the collection and are wonderful to go through but who needs 10 albums of pictures of rocks, mountains, rivers and lakes? As much as I enjoy looking at them and remembering the places I just have to toss them. Pictures of people are being put into LARGE manila envelopes so I can pass them on to my friends and family for them to enjoy or toss. My job is done, the children are grown and my kids are making their own memories that they will sort through some where down their road of life.
And now that the memories are all filed away and the albums are gone I have lots of room and hopefully time to start making new memories which I continue to record on camera but at least now the memories are stored in THE CLOUD which doesn't take up any space at all.