When we left Salt Lake, there was a lot of material possessions that were left behind. I fully believed that we would get back within a few months and I would be able to retrieve those possessions. But it did not work out that way. I couldn't even retrieve the five boxes that Kayla had retrieved and saved for me because we had the wrong car. We were supposed to get a rental that would have been bigger than our Saturn - but we did not have the room.
Randy reminded me that I had saved several cameras that I thought might be collector items one day. So much for that idea. Randy said he'd keep them for me or send them to me. I don't remember which, but I have no reason to believe them. I'll never see them again. And perhaps they really aren't worth anything. I'll never know.
I try not to dwell on what was left behind. Several people have had to abandon their possessions due to wars, floods, fires, many different reasons why they had to evacuate. Currently, I am reading a book called "The Quilt Walk" by Sandra Dallas.
A family moves from Quincy, Missouri to Golden, a city in the Colorado territory. They are part of a wagon train. I'm not really too far into it, but the pioneers and others who were migrating to the west left with fewer possessions than what I did or even what was left behind as they didn't have all the material things to begin with. Nor did they have the technology to email one another. They had the pony express at best - though the word "express" seems overrated in the delivery sense.
The story is told in first person. Emmy Blue is the ten-year-old who narrates where she's been and how life is through her eyes. A ten-year-old's hardships are so different from the adult. The ten-year-old doesn't know all the detail that takes place. Many adults don't either. They have great expectations and nothing is ever as wonderful as they imagine - particularly the journey.
Emmy Blue is an only child. She has a wax doll which I expect will melt sometime along the journey. She doesn't like to quilt. Her mom does. Emmy Blue's current friend is an eight-year-old boy who travels with his mom and dad in the wagon ahead of Emmy Blue's. She doesn't like his prideful mother. Thus far, I don't care for her much either. I do like Emmy Blue's mother.
I have noticed in stories about those that don't part with their possessions right away, end up parting with them later on - before they reach their destination. Either the wagon breaks and they have to part with items just to lighten their load. After a long period, they may trade items for food just to keep themselves from starving. Many items don't end up arriving at the intended destination. I suspect there will be more arrivals of people in this book and fewer deaths along the way, but I don't really know. They have almost crossed the entire state now and will be starting their journey through Nebraska (also a territory). I'm enjoying it.
