POST 5. Precious Things

 Precious Things

 

 

Open the trunk in your attic. What’s there? Stuff from the past, stuff too valuable to toss?

 

I still have the love letters my parents wrote to one another when Dad was in Hawaii in WWII!

 

My baby album, with handwritten notes by my mother. 

 

Digging deeper, I found a very precious item, my stuffed bunny, torn ear and all, with a sandy-like substance leaking out.

It is woven in our DNA to save precious things. My husband Lou was a saver. 

 

Upstairs in his office are newspapers, the Philadelphia Bulletin. When the Flyers won the Stanley Cup, the space shuttle Challenger disaster, the death of Pope Pius. 

 

He saved it all. It was a favorite pursuit. Among his things, I found all the hand tied flies my father had made for him, and so it goes…

 

So when Lou died, I saved his favorite shirt, his favorite jacket, his waders…

and so it goes.

These are things I will never give away or put away. I honor them, I cherish them. I made a wall diswith a dozen hats that were his favorites.  They bring me comfort. 

 

I even saved Lou’s last ponytail. It’s just as soft and curly as it was when he cut it off and hung it on a hook in the bay window.

 

I resized his wedding band, and I wear it next to my wedding rings. I will wear them til the day I die. They are reminder of a love that endured 51 years through every imaginable horror a lifetime can bring, even death.  

 

Save only those things that comfort you the most. Decide when to let go of the rest. I know, I know. It’s like tearing off a scab.

 

 

Share with me the things you saved after a loss. One lady wrote to me about her husband’s favorite orange cup which she treasures. That cup was the inspiration for this post. 

 

If you have topics you’d like me to cover on grief and healing, share your ideas. 

 

Email:   elaine.tro4@gmail.com

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copyright by Elaine T Troisi, August 30, 2023