Down Memory Lane

Recently I unearthed two boxes full of nostalgic items. The first box contained bundles of letters from about five or six good friends. These letters were written to me during my year long exile in South Dakota (my parents were moved there during my senior year of high school and, to me, it felt like outer Siberia). I had to chuckle when my best male correspondent wrote: "Could you send me some more of those xeroxed photos of South Dakota? I'm planning on starting a collection of South Dakota xeroxed pictures." Ha! I had sent him two photos from my text book for my required South Dakota History class.



It was great fun reading through some of these letters again. It made me long for a really good correspondence again. My friend, Brian, wrote to me faithfully (about every other week) during my final two years of high school and all through college. He was funny and open and often our correspondence covered deep subjects. I thoroughly miss that blessing in my life.

The second box contained little knick-knacks from the past. I especially loved seeing these key chains from London and from Disney World. This pencil gripper bears the memory of a punishment where I had to write a certain sentence several hundred times before I could go to camp. Wonder if that exercise altered my actions or mood? Plus, it was a joy to see my old Northern Illinois Youth Band patch (so many happy memories of times in the youth band) and a special sachet gift from a friend in college.



My husband would complain that I save too much, but in moments like these, I'm grateful to have hung on to things which give me such deep, happy memories.