For the first time in 6 years, every box of belongings in
our home is unpacked. As we moved multiple homes through the years, there was
many a box that lay hidden beneath the surface.
Some of our possessions lie in the open; waiting for a place
to belong to in our home, or maybe to move on to another home.
A nameplate that stayed with us through more than a decade
of marriage. An old note from someone appreciating who I am. My own notes in
diaries of an era long gone by.
With each memory I pick up, I relive a moment, visit a
place, or meet my younger self. With each memory that I stumble upon, I laugh,
cry and live.
I know I can’t keep them all. Some may need to be recycled.
Some may serve somebody else now as well as they served me. Some, I will still
hold on to as long as I live.
I feel a sense of release, and my mind transports me back to
when I was 8 years old. My father would return from his travels abroad at
midnight. We would be fighting sleep to help him unpack. The suitcase would be
hastily opened. It would smell of far-away places that I longed to discover.
That sweet smell would fill the room. And one by one, we unpacked all the
goodies he would have got for us. Toys, clothes, gadgets, perfumes, chocolates
and more. And then they would lie around the suitcase while our mom hustled us
back to bed. “You can see them in the morning!” she would say. “I won’t put
them away yet”.
I would take a long hard look at all the treasures had
arrived, and I would say to my father. “I love unpacking the treasures”
Today I take a long hard look at all the treasures I have. They
smell of familiar places I have been to; and of memories gone by.
And as nostalgia meets longing, and emotions are stirred, I say
to my son, “I love unpacking the treasures”
What treasure will you unpack today from the memories of your life?
What will you lay open; to let go or move on?
What will you hang onto the pedestal of memories?
What will you give to someone else to make their own?
What treasure will you unpack today?
