Many years ago, I wrote a weekly column for my hometown newspaper, The Tahlequah Daily Press, called Looking Back. In it, I included articles on Tahlequah’s historic homes, businesses that flourished in the past, and, most importantly, the people of Cherokee County. Articles on my mother’s family, Levi and Edna Latty, were the basis for my first two books about Mom’s girlhood, The Heritage of Etta Bend and Remembering Etta Bend. The past is vital to the present. We should never, ever forget! However, in looking back, sometimes it is hard to look forward.
After I parted with several children’s books the other day, I was seized with a need to de-clutter! And, that is my project for those in-between times when I’m not writing or gardening. I can envision my lovely, neat garage, things put in their proper places, worn-out objects discarded, renewables given to people who will renew them. Ah! I can see it now! Then, I’ll move on to the storage building. How enticing it will look, with shelves neatly stacked, nothing hanging out of boxes, nothing shoved onto a shelf with no regard for contents. I may even become so inspired that I move on to organizing my house. My fingers itch to get started!
Thing of it is, I pick up an item and remember a time in the past when it was important and the person to whom it belonged. That book or toy or bowl evokes memories of a person, time, and place that are long gone. And, it’s difficult to part with it. So, back it goes. Pretty soon, all boxes and storage bins are full and I have a lot of leftovers that need places to be. Decision making is hard. Then, I hit upon a solution! At some time in the future (we hope it is a far distant future) my children and grandchildren will have such fun going through grandma’s stuff. They’ll hold up an egg beater (the rotary kind, remember?) and ask, What in the world is this? They’ll examine a manual typewriter and say, Did she really use this slow dinosaur of a machine? So, it’ll be educational for my offspring to delve into memorabilia. In fact, now that I think about it, it’d be selfish of me to deprive them of a cultural experience. There! That takes care of the throwing-away part, but honestly, I guess I really should at least scoop everything into boxes and label them.
Wonderful idea, Blanche! Now I know what to do with that box of check stubs and cancelled checks (remember those?) from the 1960s that I found in a box in the garage just recently. It’s just nice to realize there are others who can’t part with the various treasures compiled over the years.
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Yes, I remember those, Eva. In fact, I still have a box of my own plus a box of Mom and Dad’s. Can you believe it? But, actually, in a way they are a record of what’s gone on before. I keep thinking, Now, if somebody wants to know when this or that was bought, they can just look through these check stubs and cancelled checks. Not very realistic, I know!