Hey all! Been a while since I’ve been on here, so I’m going to take a little time today to catch up with everyone and read whats been going on in your lives! The reason I’ve not been here for a while is because a.) I was on vacation for a week in Newport to visit my bestie, Judy, and was having way too much fun to drag out the old laptop and read about all the depressing shit going on in our country and around the world, and b.) since I’ve been home, Ive been “downsizing”, I guess, or at least “purging”… Since Courtney and Piper have moved into their new house this summer, Danny and I have been making plans as to what we want to do with our house. Despite the pleas of our kids to move out of our five bedroom, three-story house, we plan to stay here for the time being, but theres some work that needs to be done, of course! The first thing is going to be to get new floors put in. No more wall to wall carpet! But of course, that means getting rid of stuff we don’t need anymore (some that we didn’t even remember we had anyway!) and making the floors much more accessible for the guys to come in and do their magic.
Boring stuff to talk about after a two-week hiatus, right? But! There is a reason I’m talking about this at all here on FB, and it’s been kind of exciting (!) for me & I want to share!
In the process of digging through ancient boxes, bins, and other assorted containers, I came across a box yesterday of some of my very old mementos from my childhood years: birthday cards, my diplomas, our wedding guest book, as well as some pretty hilarious papers saved from elementary school through college, and it was a treat to read those! (I was pretty smart back in the day, although not nearly as smart as I’ve believed myself to be! Ahahaha!) The best and most surprising part of this discovery, however, is the box of letters I found. What a rush of memories to see the cards and letters from my Grandmother and best Auntie, Lorraine; my baby sister Jen who made me little cards full of love, love, love notes, my brothers Joe and Jeff who wrote to me through college and beyond, cards from my folks, etc. All the stuff you’d kind of expect to find in such a box. The biggest pile, though, and the one that made me giggle most, was a stack of letters saved from my friends through the years! And wow, was that the best thing I’ve found, ever! And I suppose it is a kind of reaffirmation of the friendships I’ve enjoyed renewing on FB, because there I found letters from many of the same wonderful folks I still (and again) love today: Anita Sherman, Kathleen (Kathy) Hagan, Susan McHale (anybody know where she is nowadays?), Cindy Richey, a couple of notes from cheerleading pals, and a couple from someone who addresses me as “cool jew”(!?) (anybody got an idea who that might be? I’m at a loss…), a few old loves (Donnie Hamilton, Tony DeAloia; even Louie Ratterman and David Spang, who were not boyfriends, but “boy-friends”) and my most favorite, Karen and Kathy Borchers! I haven’t gone through them all yet, but I’ve read a couple of them, and my heart was about to burst!
I have to admit, I had no recollection of most of those notes, which made them especially fun to read last night, but that also reminded me of how important those (you) people have been in my life forever. I can only imagine how my letters back to you after I moved to Akron must have been; that was a very dark and sad time for me, and I think that on some level, those letters provided me with a lifeline, a way to see that such darkness and sorrow, as overwhelming as it was, was temporary, and that moving away was not the end of the world, even though it felt like it. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the discovery of so many funny, moving, crazy, letters after decades of preservation has reminded me of how important you folks have been, and how much that love remains within me.
I feel kind of sorry for our kids, who write things on their computers to friends, and who will never understand the power and physical acknowledgement of holding those precious papers in their hands.
Yeah, if it’s on the net, it’s there forever, but how much access do we really have once we push “send”? Thank you, my wonderful friends, for giving me such life-sustaining joy—first, when I needed you most, and again today, when I can truly appreciate such a gift!
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