When is a hope chest no longer a hope chest....??

.....when it becomes a memory chest :) Sounds like the beginnings of a bad joke right? Well, its not I promise! If you read the above post (I am assuming here) then you know we are moving! Well, one of the things I was working on tonight was making sure my hope chest was light enough to move. My dad always warned me that the handles were so weak & to be so careful when moving it. I LOVE my hope chest, it smells great (cedar!) and my dad bought me & my 2 sis's 1 when I was 16 for Christmas. Or Santa did, either way-I've collected a few random items over the years, mostly from my dad & then once I started working & I could buy a few things. Mostly candles, curtains, etc. Well, once I graduated from high school I didn't have any logical place for my cap/gown/diploma/announcements & such so I figured the hope chest had room, why not? Then going through all my school stuff, why not put it in the hope chest with my cap & gown?? Prom stuff, wedding announcements of my family.....all important to me. Do you see where this is going? I'm not going to say its been my catch-all for everything, just my important memories. Then once my grandpa died, all I really wanted was his pipes. I didn't enjoy the smoke but I loved the smell of his pipes. It was a rich sweet smell I always associated with him. So into the hope chest along with a few of his prized pocket knives. Then once I graduated college, into the hope chest with my new diploma/cap/gown.

Well, I've glanced in there a few times but tonight, packing up I thought it would be a quick job of cleaning out the hope chest temporarily. But I found myself going through everything. I've seen this stuff a million times but tonight I lost myself in the memories. And I realized, somewhere along the line, my hope chest had turned into a memory chest. And I love it all the more for that reason. I could list everything in it for you & every memory but I'd probably bore you all. So I'll leave it at this:

I 're-found' my grandpa tonight. I found my high school years & even a few memories from elementary. And if I thought my spelling was bad now, I know that I have most defiantly worked on THAT skill lol! I also found some pictures from my other grandparents. My grandpa Darrells grandpa. Thats my great-great-great grandpa. I found a lot of happiness tonight in that chest. It was really kind of awesome going through my old stuff tonight. I have been called a pack rat. So what? If I can look back in another 8 years & remember everything again & the good feelings I associate with it, it will be worth it. Why else would I have kept the old school papers, funny cartoons, and stuffed animals?

One more thing & I promise I'll shut up but I really am proud that some of that stuff has made it with me this far in life. We always moved around a lot when I was kid which I enjoyed. But somewhere along the way I lost a lot of my stuff. I have kept all of this 'stuff' though throughout the years (and the moves) and it all does have sentimental value to me. The last interesting thing I want to share is about the oldest thing in there, my Hello Kitty stuffed animal. I got it my 1st Christmas. Obviously I don't remember that but I do know thats where its from & it still plays music to this day. The music is starting to wear down but my memory isn't. I hope everyone has a little memory chest or 'nook' of goodies to go through every so often. I found my memories tonight & its meant more than anyone will ever know!!

**FYI: As a side note, I used spell checker & I had only misspelled TWO WORDS! C'MON people if thats not improvement I don't know what is ;)