The Story before The Story:

I was going to write a resolutions post, didn't get around to it. But a key component of that post was going to be about revisiting the past. I started down this trail as the year came to a close when I reunited with old family friends (more about that another time or we'll never get to the point of this post). These sorts of visits are difficult for me because I don't like to 'go there'. Inevitably my Mom will become a topic of conversation and it is still a topic I don't talk about very well. Anyway, I faced that fear and had a wonderful visit with dear old friends.

For similar reasons I generally dread going to storage because there are all these large pieces of furniture that I do not foresee ever fitting into our home, yet there they are collecting dust and I can't part with them so I just leave feeling conflicted and bummed. So when I innocently went into storage to find a particular photo of my Mom I wanted for our family room (I am working on a family photo display), I happened upon the past and I embraced it! I went rummaging through dusty boxes and came across all sorts of wonderful treasures that I didn't even remember were in there. Sadly the photo was not in the best quality and will not be able to be a part of our display, but here it is. I will find another one on my next trip!



The Story:

On my visit to storage I happened upon a box that had a stool in it that my brother and I used to use as children. I forgot I saved this and was so excited by the timing because Elliot is just now starting to use a stool to reach the sink for brushing his teeth or to get up to his highchair. How wonderful that he can use the same stool I used!

Another box that I happened up had one of the most amazing finds of all...an entire box of typed-written short stories authored my Grandfather, Paul V. Sheehan (my Mom's Dad). Paul V. (as my Mom liked to call him) passed away when I was around 3 (I believe he was in his 60's). He was a Professor of Journalism at Fresno State from around the mid-1930 to early to mid-1960's. On the side he wrote, and wrote and apparently wrote some more. My mom spoke of his short-stories, but somehow it got lost in my memory. It must have been a box that my Mom had in her storage shed that I just moved without really looking at because the writing on the box is hers. It feels like the first time I've ever seen these stories. I am going to see if I can find someone/someplace to scan them (page by page at home is not an option) to ensure they are preserved, but I cannot wait to read them in their glorious typewritten paper form! {Isn't the title of the one that was on top a little eerie?}

Some other noteworthy finds...my very first 'ATM' card known as a Versatel card, an authentic cassette tape, a grade school yearbook from when I was in Kindergarten, a box of paperbacks and one near the top was about MLK (strange considering it was days from his birthday as well as the Inauguration of Obama), a school assignment where I drew a pie chart of oil production in Asia (5th grade I think, I guess I was destined to be an excel super-user), an 'original' copy of 'I am a Bunny' one of my favorite books that I have convinced Elliot to love too (in a box with a ton more Richard Scarry books which might have been from when my Mom was a teacher, not sure).
And the final artifact that had me laughing and crying was a recipe that I wrote for my mom for Mother's Day when I was in the 3rd grade (I think):

Labels: Feeling, Thinking