The Keepsake Box- A special reflection of Mother's Day

The Keepsake Box Upon cleaning up, clearing out the garage this past Saturday, I opened up an old trunk that I have no recollection of its contents. It had only been moved four times in the course of a five year span. And before that, not sure I had really ever taken the time to open and go through it contents. I opened up the trunk, shooed away a few unwanted occupants of spiders. Inside I found my old high school diploma, old photos, books, journals, but then came across a small white box marked “keep”. Of course I had not seen this box in over many years, so decided to open it up and see what was so important to “keep.” Much to my delight, it was all the lovely jewelry, trinkets, handmade items my children had made me over the years, the proverbial “macaroni necklaces”, the more advanced and updated versions of plastic beads, the cut plastic straw version! Absolutely priceless! Bracelets, small yarn-sewn handmade pillows from old scrap material, with “I love you, Mom” handwritten in sharpie. . The ever allusive and coveted tuna can mold candle. Handwritten poems, cards and crayon pictures of flowers. Just a treasure trove of Mother’s Day gifts from by gone years. I closed the small box, wiping a few joyful tears away from my eyes and proceeded to continue to clean up the garage, but just kept smiling even in the heat about the most precious of jewels I had rediscovered. So when putting items back into the trunk, I re-wrote on the outside of this box…REALLY keep. Wishing all a happy mothers’ day! Remember we get to hold our children’s’ hands for such a short time, but hold them in our hearts forever! -Lori Daniele