As the rest of the residents of Florida are racing around preparing for THE HURRICANE that probably won't amount to anything I am sitting inside on a most beautiful day pouring through photo albums and year books. It's that domino effect working it's magic and causing me to get into things that I have managed to avoid for several years.
When I sold my Florida house 3 years ago I just stuffed books and albums into boxes which I did manage to unpack during the year I lived in "The Cave" condo. Then 2 years ago when Dwayne and I decided to rent a larger condo I once again filled boxes with these treasures only to have to find a place to store them in our new residence. These books started out in large storage containers on a shelf in our shed but then I needed that space for garden tools, Christmas decorations and kid toys for when the grand kids come to visit. Out came all the photo albums, about 20 in all, spanning the years from 1973 when Kyle was born all the way up to right before Gerry died in 2015. That's a LOT of photos but I just can't throw them out. Right after I moved them out of the shed I started to dismantle several of them and sort the pictures of people with the intention of sending the photographs to those folks captured by my camera but that became a larger chore than I anticipated so I stuffed ALL the albums into an old steamer trunk that had belonged to my grandfather. I have moved this trunk from NY to Florida and to both the condos I have rented down here. I can't part with it, partly because it is so unique but also because it is one of the last tangible ties to my mom. The trunk is so large and bulky that there really wasn't any room to put it IN the condo so it found a nice spot on the lanai under a table that is under the overhang of the roof. It is protected from the weather and it looks kind of neat sitting where it is.
Enter Hurricane Dorian . . . Probably bringing lots of rain and water which will most likely flood my lanai, The lanai doesn't have the greatest drainage and even on a good day when there is a torrential down pour the water creeps up about half way to the house. So with this in mind I needed to empty the trunk and either bring it into the house or at least raise it up on blocks to keep it from getting saturated. The dominoes are now falling rapidly and I am in complete "re arrange the house" mode. The albums are now lined up in cabinets along the living room wall. The stuff that was in those cabinets is now sorted out and placed in other cabinets and drawers through out the house. (I have no doubt I will be searching for things for months.) But it is all worth it because the photos are now arranged in chronological order so that when I die and my kids have to empty out my house they can know exactly what year the photos that they are throwing out were taken.
I began this entire project on Thursday . . . It is now Saturday and I have finally finished. It took me this long because every book I picked up called me to check out just what had gone on that particular year. I've been wallowing in memories for the last 3 days and am so nostalgic right now that I want to call all my old friends and remind them of a moment or event that took place so many years ago. And as if that wasn't enough I ALSO found my High School AND college year books. OMG . . . Was I ever that young ?
And all the autographs and notes written by those long ago friends have stirred so many memories. Seeing the faces of people I knew over 50 years ago but haven't thought of in all that time. Remembering how it felt to be a high school senior and a college freshman. Seeing pictures of my Alma Mater in Oneonta, NY where I spent the BEST 4 years of my life. I am blown away with memories of good times and great people. I can not believe it was so long ago and I am the same person that is pictured there. I am remembering moments in time that I haven't thought of in ages and I am knowing that after all these years even though I have matured, (a nice way of saying i'm old), I am still that same young girl in my heart and I would do it all again without hesitation.
I guess this hurricane is good for something.
No comments:
Post a Comment