I helped my parents and family clean out my grandma's house at the beginning of last week. It was sure a trip back in time. We started in the back, in the laundry room. That's where for years things were thrown into junk drawers (and there were a lot of drawers in there). One of the first things found was an ID bracelet-- a present to my grandpa from my grandma. It was tarnished and I'm sure the clasp was broken, but the message was as strong as ever (even though they did get divorced years before I was born).

There were so many things of interest: old photographs, old Jim Beam bottles, fine china--everything an old lady shoudl have been hording around her house. Especially the Christmas gear. A large closet full of it. Looking through all of these things made me feel closer to her, ieven just alittle bit. I would say that we never really got along when she was alive. But I lived in that house for a time, and even my old memories seemed to pop up, like my old sippy cup and my first chapter book. I even found the table top to my old kiddy table... of course there are no legs, but that's easy enough to fix.

Most of the things I collected were art and shop projects my dad made. They fascinate me. i think he's to the point where he thinks they aren't good enough for anything, but I love the stuff.

Anyway, I'm glad that's all over.