Last year when Brian set up the new Kobalt storage cabinet, I had to move the Sterlite chests that were there. I emptied them out, saved or tossed things as I found them. (My stuff, they were empty when I brought them home, she had clothes in them and those were all donated.)
One chest still had mom's stuff in it. I just moved it to a differerent area of the garage. I had started looking through what was in it, but nothing was really interesting. Just little tchotchkes she'd gathered over the years, little knick knacks she'd been given or gotten for herself because they made her smile. I have no place for them. I have the curio cabinet we got decades ago where I put my cat things so they're safe from the real thing, and the cabinet is full. Not much room left.
I told Brian last weekend, to just throw the whole thing out. I was tired of it taking up room. Today is trash day and he was going to take it out, but decided to go through it first. Just in case there was something of value.
Brian thought maybe some of the things were silver, but they weren't. But he unwrapped each and every one of what was in the drawer. There were some adorable little blown glass elephants, a set of three and not a trunk to be found - broken off at some point. Little things that had no value, monetary or emotional. Out they went.
But, as he unwrapped one small piece, my face lit up. Gimme! I held it in my hand, grinning from ear to ear.
Have you guessed what it is yet? It's an ashtray (my mom smoked)! My very first craft project! I made it in elementary school. I'm pretty sure we lived in Salt Lake City at the time (dad was in the USAF).
And she'd kept it all of those years. Through all of our moves, she kept it. And now, it's back with me.
I told Brian "just imagine, I started crafting when you were only three." And I'm still hooked.
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