A box full of memories...

This past week I began packing up my apartment.  What a process.  Who knew that one person could own so much stuff...  and just think, its not that long ago when I packed this place up and threw away so many things! Well, I've taken my time and have begun packing slowly.  A box here, a box there. Going through various mementoes of past, choosing things to keep and things to get rid of.  Its no easy task, especially for someone like me who likes to document (and hold on to) moments..

I found many exciting things as I started sifting through various memorabilia.  A box under my bed contained all sorts of treasures- photographs of all ages, papers written in college (with a whole range of professors comments from great to horrible), random sketches, letters and shabbat-o-grams that I've found meaningful over time, and random artifacts that quickly take me back to the moments where they were acquired. I've always loved how things can do that to you.  Certain songs can create vivid memories, evoke specific scents, or draw out specific emotions within you.  Certain colognes can bring back a person you haven't seen for years.  Certain landscapes or expressions can connect you to the past or even inspire desires of the future.

One of the more fun things I came across while packing was a poem that I once wrote.  I really reconnected with it, especially at this time of change.  A time when I've been challenged with a variety of life events all happening at once.  While I feel like I'm always a bit reflective, it was additionally enjoyable to find now and think about all the images that the poem conjures.

Where I'm From.

I am from records

from Snuggle and General Electric

I am from the red brick, split level, north suburban house

beautiful, neat, Hebrew music-filled and always full of love

I am from the lilac tree

and the orchid,

whose both white and pure

I'm from latke-making and Yiddishkite

from Ima and Abba

I'm from the holiest place on earth

from living deep inside my soul and from cooking way too much food

from go to sleep and

I love you

I'm from brush your teeth, brush your hair,

dress nicely, and don't forget to put on makeup

I'm from Manhassett and the lands of Ashkenaz and Sepharad

spicy salmon rolls and mouthwatering fajitas

From the Holocaust survivor stories and sacred photos of

those who perished and the escape from Egypt in 1959

Family pictures in old boxes

the smell of Boucheron in mama's cabinet

a ring that is passed through the generations

many memories giving love and sketching dreams

I am from those moments-

from laughter and being silly, while

happily eating ice cream.

Its funny.  This poem was found tucked away on a bookcase inside a journal that I haven't opened in so long.  But I did realize, while packing up my home, that I have so many different boxes with hidden treasures that can speak volumes on who I am and where I'm from.  Its part of what makes me ME.  I like to keep my history in organized, compartmentalized places.  I like to find time to reread about cherished moments remember those who strongly influenced me or laugh anew through experiences of past.  And while I imagine most people don't have as much stuff as I do, I'm sure each of you have something too. Find those treasures.  Reread your memories.  Relive moments.  Laugh and cry while looking through photographs.  And let it remind you of who you are, how special you are, the difference you make, and where you come from.  It'll only make you a better version of you.