Family History

Today is Sunday, July 12, 2009. It is too early to know if the sun is going to shine or it is going to rain. My guess is the sun will shine.
I have spent the last couple of weeks organizing "stuff" that I have kept over the years. You know, school programs, newspaper articles, family letters, piano recital programs, wedding announcements, family letters, etc. I am enjoying the journey. And I feel a great sense of accomplishment. Once all this stuff was just in a big box. Several years ago I began to sort it out and put it in big manila envelopes, two or three years at a time. Now I am putting it into notebooks, in plastic sleeves by date. I am using regular size paper to mount the smaller things on and writing a bit about each piece of memrobilia. Since I have jillions of stickers from my Creative Memory collection, I am also adding embellishments to make it more interesting. As I said before I am enjoying the journey.
One thing that hovers in my mind each day is I wonder what will happen to the notebooks when I die. I treasure a few things of my Grandma McGuire and a few more of my mother's collection. But I have kept so-o-o-o-o much "stuff." I probably should just throw most of it away. But I can't find it in my heart to do that. I told Glen the other day, "If I have 18 notebooks full of memories, each child can take 2 and then they can pass them around." Two notebooks wouldn't take up very much space in each house.
I guess I got to thinking about this because a friend told me she was trying to "organize" her papers and she wondered what would happen to them when she was gone. Do we all wonder about that when we get old? I decided I didn't really care about what happens to them after me. I can spend a lot of days just looking at the things I've kept and turning the pages. Okay, kids, remember that! When I get too old to do much else, just hand me my notebooks and tell me to turn the pages.
I have had lots and lots of wonderful experiences and adventures in my 70 plus years. It has been an Incredible Adventure so far and I look to many more great experiences in the years to come. There probably won't be as much "stuff" to keep. Our names don't appear on many school programs any more, or in piano recitals like when the children were all at home. But we do have a good life and we do keep pretty busy. Life is good.
That's all for today.