There have been multiple posts in which I have referred to treasures of the past. I had six boxes of memorabilia which I had left behind in West Valley. I really thought that we would have returned to Utah long before we did. I thought we would return in a large rental car and I’d be able to retrieve my boxes. I wasn’t thinking logically.
Meanwhile my sister had gone to the West
Valley house to retrieve my six boxes – which she kept in her house for at
least a couple of years. When we finally
returned to Utah it was for Jen’s funeral.
We had reserved a rental car, but it wasn’t available when we went in to
pick it up. Five other customers were
also waiting. I didn’t even know what
position we were in. We ended up driving
back in the Saturn. We barely had room
for a luggage – no room for boxes or souvenirs.
When Shelly and Todd came to visit the
following year they brought what Shelly said was the largest box. There were a lot of photos, a couple of old
hymn books, I don’t remember what else.
Over the years she reminded me of the boxes taking up room in her
house. I couldn’t even remember what was
in them, but had asked her to go through and pull out what might be important –
though her idea of important is not the same as mine. Steven and I have always been pack-rats while
Shelly and Keith have been more practical and far from sentimental
attachment. Shelly ended up throwing out
four of the six boxes - at least that is my understanding.
Anyway, during our trip to Utah, Shelly
said she had one last box for me to pick up and brought it to me at Su
Casa. Steven also had a much smaller box
filled with items retrieved from Aunt Eloise’s house after she had died. My cousin gave him three items to bring out
to Oregon during one of his annual drives – but the pandemic got in the way and
so he’s had these three items at his house ever since:
Steven and Isaiah’s house already looks like a museum overflow. And this is only the entry way:
As I mentioned on Day 8 post Isaiah had
given Jaime some gifts – trying to declutter his own accumulation and gave her
the following:
As for the items I had saved . . . well . . . about half was a rediscovery and some items I had recently been thinking about. No Expression Magazines – but there is the legal sized record book with the 16 temples at the time.
Ugliest cabbage patch doll – I saved thinking perhaps it might be valuable someday. I used a picture from the internet in this post. Here is the actual doll I ended up taking home.
I had purchased some coca-cola pins when I had worked at Swire
expecting that I could sell them one day also. But they are missing from my
collections. And no pictures to show
either. 
I had purchased two sets - one to wear
and one still in bag - now lost forever!
Made
things with hands – a wreath and Christmas tree card. Spider made in pre-school (it’s missing an
eye) a hat from her first birthday (which she actually wore in honor of her 18th)
her first placemat and Mickey mouse platter from first time we went to
Disneyland. Pictures would have worked
fine. I saved them all before knowing
that Jai is even less sentimental than is Patrick or Shelly so will get thrown
away probably. (Currently it is in the
back room along with other memorabilia waiting to go into the shed)
There were four or five journals plus a couple of yearbooks that both Jai and Richard seemed to enjoy. Stamp collection and watercolors I think my grandma had created.
And
then there’s the clothing. Our dinosaur
shirts,
Other
items I purchased just because:
Kevin had given Jai four safety posters which she hung on her wall
not to mention all the arcade treasures she acquired
