Memories

I have been going through things deciding what to pitch, what to give to Goodwill and what to keep.

Adam's family has a newsletter published every month by his grandma. It's all the Fischer side of his family. It's fun to read about what other people are up to (even though I don't know many of them very well, but you would be surprised how many of them I have met more than once). Adam's Aunt Barbara started doing the same thing as I am but she has a lot more memories saved. She has started writing in her journal about what these things mean to her. She takes pictures, scans them, whatever and then gets rid of the object. There are even some heirlooms that she is offering to whoever wants them since she doesn't use them.

She inspired me to do a little of the same. So here's a couple of pictures of some items I've been saving for a long time and am ready to give up now but want to remember them and what they mean to me.

This picture has 4 things that mean different things to me. The Ty Detmer card was something I got at D.A.R.E. I was so proud to have gotten Ty Detmer's card that I have saved it all these years...perhaps it would be worth something someday. I have given up on that idea. The pink and white rope was a friendship bracelet that Jennifer Fair gave to me after we moved to Florida. I wore that bracelet for at least a year. It fell off but I safety pinned it back together and wore it that way for another year or so. I finally took it off but wasn't willing to give it up. They Just Say No pin was something I got at Ruskin while working on the Just Say No posters and campaign while in the student council. I still know part of one of the songs on the Just Say No tape. "Just say no, just say no, just say no. Just say no, just say no, just say no. Just say no, that's the only way to go, just say no, just say no, just say no. Cigaretts you don't need." *head bopping to a very catchy beat* They're a very filthy weed. Just say no, just say no, just say no....." The last thing in this picture is a bunch of old stamps from Dad. He collected these stamps as a child and gave them to me when I started showing an interest in stamps myself. I was so happy that he gave me something that meant something to him. Unfortunately, I taped most of them into a stamp collection book. Those are long gone. This is what is left of his once much larger collection.

This picture just has my cross stitch projects. The two smaller ones are the first ones I have ever finished. The middle one is one that I had started while living in the Hone house. I quit working on it when I could no longer stick the needle through the holes. The instructions said that on 32 count aida fabric, it would have turned out to be 6 1/8" x 4 3/8". That was the smallest count fabric they had listed. Well...mine is only 3 5/8" x 2 1/2. Teeny tiny!!! I saved it thinking maybe one day I'd start it back up. 2-3 years ago, Sheri sent me the same cross stitched project (about 3 times the size of mine) finished and framed. So, I no longer feel a need to hang onto the original project. Thanks, Sheri!

Both of these were made by a man in Savannah, GA. Adam and I went there for our anniversary 5 years ago. I had just found Jack and I was so worried that Jack would be claimed y his owner while we gone and I would never see him again. Needless to say, that didn't happen. We were walking down the river front street when this man asked us if Adam wanted to buy me a rose. Adam said yes, and he proceeded to make this rose out of a palmetto frond. It was really neat to watch. So later, while walking the same stretch of road in the opposite direction, he asked Adam if he wanted something to go with that rose, so again, Adam said yes. He made the heart thing. He was really skilled at working with the palmetto fronds which were still green and flexieat he time. He told us how the palmettos were sacred to the Native Americans. He was a tall lanky black man who looked like he had missed some meals. We saw him make a few more things for other people as well. I always really liked these but I really don't know what to do with it. I had the heart with the flower tucked in it hung on the wall but the curly parts were always sticking out too far into the room.