MOVING AND HISTORY

I know that I am not the only person in the world  who has experienced a major house-move. I daresay that anyone reading this has or has been close to someone who has been thru this “agony and ecstasy.” Why then do I feel  that it is only happening to me ?

Okay, so we all go through the usual nostalgia – especially when it comes to  pictures. The “kids’” baby pictures – from over 50 years ago —  the celebrations and trips and just-because-s. No selfies then. And the — OMG – Who is THAT person? She doesn’t even LOOK familiar. Why is she in so many pictures?

The wonderful thing about pictures is: we never take any during our angst periods, when misery and frustrations and anger and disappointment take over. To look at them, one would think that life is full of “say cheese” and resulting smiles.

Of course there are the  genius examples of art work they drew and stories they wrote and key rings they made. To say nothing of the useless presents from all sorts of folks  once bestowed with love and warmth – the ones you felt obliged to keep—and NOW  how happy you are to dump them or better, “regift” them.

But here’s what might be somewhat unique. All my life – including pre-marriage – I have saved newspaper and some magazine stories and headlines of milestone historical events. Well – not ALL of them – many!  But, stupid me – I was so careless about storage . I kind of dumped them into a box in my garage and over the years of course they have yellowed and withered and crinkled etc. However, there were enough that were legible and in sufficiently good condition for me to have constructed a mini history lesson in headlines —  for my grandkids. Visualize:  Me sitting on a small stool in my garage surrounded by empty boxes,  and newspaper headlines: Roosevelt Elected For Fourth Term, Hitler Takes Poland, Roosevelt Dies, Truman Takes Oath, Germany Surrenders, Atomic Bomb Dropped on Japan,  Japan Surrenders, Dewey Wins, (oops, mistake!)  Troops To Korea, One Small Step For Man,— and then, a hiatus as  I was concentrating on parenting and discovering Elvis Presley and Rock and Roll Music, until :  JFK Dead, Johnson Takes Office, Troops In  Viet Nam, MLK Assassinated,  RFK Assassinated, Civil Rights Bill Passed, Watergate Breakin, Nixon Resigns, Reagan Takes Office: Iran Hostages Released, Hussein Invades Kuwait, US Troops In Iran, Clinton Elected, Blue Dress Evidence, Clinton Impeached, Clinton Acquitted, It’s The Millennium, Florida Recount, Supreme Court Declares Bush President, ATTACKED !! , Troops to Afghanistan,  Hussein’s Weapons of Mass Destruction,  US Invades Iraq,  Largest Drop In Market Since Depression, Housing Bubble Bursts, Hillary Drops Out of Primary, Obama Elected In Historical Win, Affordable Care Act Passed,  IPhone Unveiled, Oregon Recognizes Same Sex Marriage,  Recreational Marijuana Legal In Washington and Colorado —-

I stopped saving headlines after that. And I’ll never save them again:   headlines or elephants or matchbooks, or stuffed animals or letters. I did all that. I have switched to “minimalism.” My next move will be easy.

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