Three items
that I would take with me if I had to leave my home permanently would be my
camera, our SD card or flash drive with all of our pictures on them, and our
scrapbook. Our scrapbook contains a fast-forward version of our lives up until
our daughter was born, and will someday hold photos and memento's of our
children's lives too.
If I were
to explain to others what these things mean to me I would have to try to
explain love, the fear of losing memories, loss, and hope for change. The
photos of my daughter and family on the SD card would tell a story for
themselves of a family revolving around each other. We have all had too much
sadness in our lives, so we just try to be happy and relax when we can. Our
scrapbook, I hope, will show future generations the types of choices and
lifestyles we lived. And hopefully future generations will look at this to help
guide their own choices or maybe they will make completely different decisions
because they will learn from our mistakes.
I would be
heartbroken, if upon arrival we were told we could only keep one item. I would
probably choose to keep our SD card. I would much rather have our daughter have
pictures to show her children of herself when she was a child and have to
recreate the memories lost in the scrapbook than have to lose the beautiful
images of our daughter growing up.
As I have
spent time thinking about what items to bring and what items to leave behind, I
realized what little emphasis I put on 'things'. I think this comes from the
fact that my husband and his family are on the verge of being considered
hoarders. They keep every gift box and bag, keep every packaging box of
electronics, appliances, and many toys, and they all have a problem with
keepings things picked up (they are generally clean but very cluttered). I have
been living with my husband (we moved in together long before we were married,
oops) for almost 7 years and I think that the overabundance of 'things' has
turned me against keeping objects of value around, I would rather just not have
any objects. I do hope that as my family grows we can begin new traditions and
gather new things that we hold in value, but for now the highest valued item in
my life is my daughter and she is not a thing.
Thanks for
reading, I look forward to hearing what everyone else considers valuable in
their lives!
I never thought about bringing a camera if I had to chose my items again I would have chosen that. A camera is a great way to make new memories of a terrible situation. A camera would give you the opportunity to capture the happy moments and allow them to be stored similar to a family album.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteCertainly, I have enjoyed reading your post. As a matter of fact, I have learned a variety of things from my colleagues. Some of these things I have never thought about as being so dear to me. The scrap-book is something new to me. However, I am more knowledgeable on this issue. Keep up the good work.
Joanne Lynch