In the last four years you have read about my monumental task of cleaning out my parents house after my Dad died unexpectedly. At the same time we also had to move my mother into Assisted Living. Honestly much of that time is a blur in my memory.
I am still dealing with some of the aftermath. Well a lot of it. My parents didn’t throw out much. The moment that is seared into my memory is opening a box and finding throw pillows from the couch we had when I was five. If it hadn’t been 10am I would have started drinking and Kahlua in my coffee does not count. Well maybe it does.
In any case I am currently going through all the boxes of photos and memorabilia we dumped in my office after the final clean out. I had to take a break after we finished. Going through boxes is the most mind numbing experience. I’d rather go to the dentist or take algebra again..and fail it ..again.
Lately though I have been thankful for the “classy hoarding” my parents did. “Classy Hoarding” is a phrase I coined to refer to a house that looks put together but has closets and a basement just plain stuffed! If the house could have groaned and let out its’ seams it would have done it!
So why am I thankful? I am thankful because I am finding so many unbelievable treasures . Treasures only to me and my family but still they are priceless.
Among other things I have found a letter written to my mother from grateful parents whose young son died. They wrote eloquently about how much they appreciated her kind and loving ways towards their 12 year old son as he passed away from cardiac problems. My mother could not fill in the details ( unfortunately) but it was during her last weeks of nursing school. The only thing she could say about it was that it was very sad.
I found humorous photos of my Mom and Dad in their youth. As a child you never envision your parents as being wild and while this was the mild side of wild it was fun to see. It was long before they were worried about what anyone would think and I found it refreshing. I wish I could ask both of them about this time in their lives but one is in heaven and one is sadly in the throes of dementia.
I found letters written by them as a young engaged couple in love. And then there is a lovely letter from the father of my mothers’ best friend extolling her virtues to her new in laws who did not approve of the marriage. My grandparents thought my father could do better . Then my parents eloped and that didn’t help. They did recant those feelings many times over and became Moms’ biggest fans.
In that same letter Ted Holtzinger painted a picture of my Moms’ tireless efforts on the pediatric polio ward before there was a vaccine. Also as you read this please know that at 5 feet tall and 80 lbs my Mom was not much bigger than her patients.
Ted wrote:
I wish I could tell you of her heroic efforts on behalf of the littlest victims of this city’s worst polio epidemic. She worked around the clock for what must have seemed like endless days trying to save those who were most seriously afflicted from death or from a life sentence to the worst phases of crippling that makes polio such a dreaded scourge.
I saw her there one night when the epidemic was at it s height., her hands and arms reddened to the elbow form the hot packs that she was administering to the sufferers of this worst form of polio, I watched her wince as she lifted hot pack after hot pack from the scalding water and I said a silent prayer of thanks for women like Betty who could forget self in service to others so grievously afflicted and yet so needful of her administrations.
My mother never told us about any of this. I am so thankful this letter and others like exist and were saved so that I may have a glimpse of my mother before I knew her.
By the way I also have the response my grandfather sent many years later and it was eloquent as well. Not sure why he waited so long but grateful I have the two letters to go side by side.
So on this Thoughtful Thursday what is my point about all these treasures? Can you guess?
Write a real letter. A real one. Not a text or an email…a real honest to goodness letter. Make a copy and save it. Who should you write it to? That is for you to decide but in this day and age of digital it is refreshing to hold a letter that can be read over and over again without turning anything on.
Tell someone what they mean to you, write down memories of fun times , special life events and anything that has become family lore. If you see someone like my Mom doing something so very special let them know you noticed.
I know it is all the rage to be minimalistic and to get rid of everything that isn’t nailed down. I get it. And all that is found will be digitized in case the originals are lost. In the meantime it is a joy to hold a letter once written by a friend, a grandparent, my Mom, my Dad. They once held that piece of paper. The connection is real.
So thank you Mom and Dad…it has been hard but the rewards are bountiful. I am so happy you saved this part of our history.
Now as always, go make it a Thoughtful One..and if you are so honored go hug your Mom and Dad ! Jennifer