Once again I exhausted myself with sorting stuff and with emotion. Old photos are the biggest source of angst and indecision, and sometimes (worse) … rue and regret.
I could have been a better daughter, stepdaughter, mother and friend.
On an impulse, I took a snapshot of a photo of nice people who were wonderful to and treasured by Myrtle, then by Dad when he married our stepmother.
I texted the photograph to the "shirttail distant step-relatives". The family members were all lovely people.
I ended up in a nice chat with one of these folks, and coincidentally, she was helping her sister move into a new house in Calgary, and they sent a selfie of the two together.
I felt like I should have known them better all along. I explained how I was in tears, going through the old photos, and they surprised me by saying that I should at least throw away any photos of their families! They all have copies of those pictures. My children won't know them.
It was kinda liberating. It feels disrespectful to trash even poor photos and ones of people I don't know at all or even heard of. Even so, this text conversation gave me a bit of "license" to y'know … bin stuff.
Also, I feel motivated, armed with new criteria. After all, our home was nearly lost to fire last year. It is unlikely to ever happen again, but surely I could consolidate the treasures some more.
One photo that had me in tears was one taken by my parents at Old Faithful, Yellowstone Park. When I took myself on an epic road trip in 2012, I visited that park, and I walked where they had walked and sat where they'd sat. I just didn't know it until many years later.
I was still mulling over the meaning of life and other hard questions when I heard that a young friend in Valemount had died. Though we didn't see each other often, I felt so saddened: the last I'd heard, Mel was doing better.
She had many friends, also patrons in a hair salon and spa who adored her.
Melanie Chitty ~ photo by Elise
☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️☕️
This morning, I'm expecting a visit from a good friend/former customer. Holly moved further away (she lived in Prince George but moved to Edmonton). I used to board and groom Holly's dogs and I miss Moose and Baxter as well.
Today in McBride, there are events. All for "Pioneer Days", there's a parade, Quilt Shows and other displays, beer gardens, ball games and other shenanigans. There's at least one estate sale. 🎉 😀
I was asked if I would attend the "Rock-Paper-Scissors Tournament", or if that would be too rowdy for me. I didn't admit that I really did not think it sounded that fun. But I explained that there was so much going on in town that we'd be tired long before dinner, dance and drinking games.
I don't even mind playing the age card as an excuse.
Hope you have a pleasant day no matter what your idea of fun is!
Love, Ann
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