“Keeper of Family Things”
Long held treasures were unpacked from their dusty Rubbermaid boxes, one at a time. Somehow, eighteen years ago, when my mother died, I had been designated the keeper of all family things. Some were keepsakes, but most were not. That revelation came late in the holding.
They all did have monetary value, as the price of everything my mother had purchased, been given, or had passed down to her, was recorded on index cards kept in a large wooden recipe box.
After a few emotional days…taking me through my childhood and creating a longing for my parents and my sister…the last box was emptied and removed. I walked back into my office and took a big deep breath. The air was detectiblylighter.
I kept a few items that I loved and some that brought back pleasant childhood recollections. The rest were offered to my children and nieces. Though not a generation for holding onto objects, they did take a few items that elicited special memories of their relationship with my mom.
The tower of boxes had occupied one quarter of my office space for a very long time. I had equated relinquishing them with letting go of my parents, my sister, my childhood, and “valuable things.” What I discovered was that by emptying my surroundings of stuff, I opened space for expanding thought and creativity—to me, much more precious commodities. Happily, memories of my parents, sister, and my childhood remain fully intact.
Lorette Alpers, Washington State resident, did this piece in response to an exercise in Ariele’s online class called Basics Two for Writers.
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