keepsakes

Ana, April 2010. I came across it today. It's one of my favorites.

As part of my "40 Bags" challenge (which has really morphed into a 40 areas challenge because I don't really fill a whole bag every day) I pulled out some files out of my filing cabinet tonight labeled "keepsakes." Surprisingly, most of what found its way all the way into the folders were actually things I wanted to keep, (unlike the "to file" drawer of my desk that was 3 years full of random things, only a handful of which were actually keep-worthy) so my throw-out pile was small.

I am not very fast when it comes to these things. I look at every picture. I read every card. (And then I decided to move all my cards to a shoebox to make the folder a little flatter.) I am a collector and I am hopelessly nostalgic. As I was going through these treasures, a few things came to mind.

1.) I really need to be better about writing thank you cards. Those little notes of thanks mean a lot to me. I keep many of them.  I am touched by the sincerity and vulnerability it takes to express such heartfelt thanks for my small, seemingly insignificant contributions. I should do that more often for others.

2.) I have such wonderful people in my life. I have friends and family all over the country. I have been influenced and inspired by friends and neighbors and even acquaintances. I have had times when I have given and times when I have received. I read cards of sympathy during a surgery or miscarriage, cards of congratulations for milestones and baby births, cards of thanks for small things I had done, and cards and letters just to say "hi." I am so incredibly blessed.

3.) My kids are growing up way too fast. Ana is becoming so tall and thin. Katie has a full head of hair now. Jack was younger than Katie when we moved here. Time has flown by. Each picture is just a fleeting moment, but seeing them all together in one place weaves a story of a life. There were even a few pictures mixed in of me and Dave when we were young. Time flies by so quickly. I can't even remember my 4-year-old self at all, and even Ana's 4-year-old self is quickly fading from my memory as life moves on.

Life really is all about relationships. We are all children of God and how we relate to our brothers and sisters here is the most important thing on earth. I found a list of 50 things I want to do in my life tucked away in one of my files. Most of them I still want to accomplish, like "get a master's degree." But even if I do, I hope that it never becomes more precious than a shoebox full of cards, or a love-note from my husband, or a painted hand print of my daughter.