As the Snow Falls

Back in the "olden days" snow days were our family's days to clean out the closets. Mama Margaret rarely stayed home from work except when she had to, and snow days were usually her excuse to do so. When the flakes begin falling I get a primal urge to unpack, re-pack, organize and re-organize that is unsurpassed any other time of the year except when I'm on a big dose of Prednisone. It's my way of honoring Mother's memory, I think.

She was a saver--a pack rat with more pack than rat in her, thank goodness. As with many Depression survivors she saved anything that might be considered remotely useful in the future. Being a business person, she saved all her records of everything. She even kept her daily pocket calendars. She kept records in stenographic notebooks about all her travels as well as her monthly expenses through the years. I hated throwing them out after she died, but I know no one has the space to save them.

She saved all the letters she and Daddy wrote back and forth while he was in the Navy in WWII, and they wrote each other almost daily. I still have them, but they are out of chronological order from being moved so many times.

I wonder what people will think of the things I have saved. I love going through stuff from time to time--jokes, clippings, e-mails, even bills--and remembering why I've kept them. There are notes and partially completed essays on a variety of subjects (for my blog or letters to the editor?) Not long ago I went through a bunch of old e-mails and chuckled at the jokes as if they were new. Looking in my computer folders is a pleasure trip down Memory Lane.

The snow is falling now, so I will have to get started soon on cleaning out closets for the first time in years. I know Mama Margaret will be with me.