objectofmemory-blog

[objectofmemory-blog]

Little Box

Object: Beach pebbles Date: May 2011

We took Little E to Valentino Pier in Red Hook this past weekend.  She was enthralled by the small waves and thousands of beach pebbles.  She spent part of the time just like her mommy and daddy often do - studying the ground that she stood on, picking up little things.  These are the two details that she handed to me as she scavenged the shore.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object: 1/2" shell; Miami, FL Date: June 26, 2005

My husband (then husband-to-be) spent several months during the early part of our relationship in Florida.  The separation was emotionally very hard for both of us and I tried to visit him on a regular basis.  I picked this shell up at a beach the first time I visited him.  At that moment I retrieved it from the sand, we thought that my husband-to-be was going to be called into work for the rest of my visit; the call turned out to be a joke that one of his colleagues was playing on him.  I still keep the shell in my wallet (though it's true home is the box) to remind me of the strength of our relationship, and how lucky we are to have him working locally right now.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Little Box

Object: Morning glory seed pods Date: February 2011

Last Friday was an absolutely beautiful day in Brooklyn.  Little E and I took a walk around our house and stopped to look at the remains of some morning glories from last summer.  She loves seeds and was completely entranced by the process of opening the pods and taking out the small black seeds.  She wouldn't let go of these - we took them home and put them in her special box.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object: Pill box & whisker; Brooklyn, NY Date: 2007-ish & 2010

The cat pill box was given to my by my mother-in-law a few years ago.  I think it's beautiful and it has always reminded me of my favorite cat, Irving.  When Irving fell sick and eventually passed away last year, I saved one of his whiskers.  The whisker lives coiled up within the pill box.  The memory is bittersweet, as it was one of the last whiskers he lost before passing away and forever a reminder of both his sweetness and our loss.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Little Box

Object: Pancake; Brooklyn, NY Date: January 22, 2011

Pancake in the special box.  Reason unspecified.  Object removed for sanitary reasons.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Little & Big Box

Object: Fruit stickers; Manhattan & Brooklyn, NY Date: Various

A combo set of objects.  Both E and I seem to have an affection for fruit stickers.  I once had an entire collection, influenced greatly by a friend that I met in college.  She was (and still is!) such a magical, whimsical person, and the fruit sticker collection was infectious. I moved a lot in my mid-20's and decided to keep just one as a placeholder.  Whenever I look at it, I smile.

E has two apple fruit stickers in her box (though admittedly, I've replaced them from time to time as they've gotten lost in the carpet, stuck on clothing, etc.).

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object: Note left on inside of front door; Brooklyn, NY Date: September 18, 2008

The note that the previous owners of our house left for us after closing on the sale.  The building had only been owned by three families since 1920. It was a very emotional transfer for them.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object: One-way LIRR ticket, NYC to Port Jefferson Date: October 24, 1999

My ticket from my Manhattan home to my birth home on Long Island, purchased as a one-way, as I was not sure when I would be able to return.  I have no memory of the 24th through the 29th.  My aunt, who had struggled with ovarian cancer for a year, died six days later in a Port Jefferson hospice.  This ticket has always symbolized how time stopped for me and my family for a brief moment. 

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object: Small stone; Northampton, MA Date: August 1998

Right before my last semester at college, my best friend from high school left for a semester in Africa.  While we did not attend the same school, we were still very close.  I picked up this stone from the ground after seeing her off on the PVTA bus from Northampton to Amherst.  There was something heart-wrenching about saying goodbye and to this day I cannot pinpoint why.  I kept the stone in my wallet for the duration that she was gone.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Little Box

Object: Horse chestnut; Greenfield, CA Date: January 1, 2011

You were not on the walk with Pop-Pop when he found this chestnut but you were so excited when he brought it back with a few others to show you and your cousins.  You love rubbing your fingers on the smooth nut and even played with it on the plane on the way back to New York.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object: Paper crane; Union Square, NYC Date: September 13, 2001

I continued my city walks shortly after 9/11.  On the 13th, I walked from my apartment on the Upper East Side down to Union Square.  Thousands of paper cranes had been created as symbols of peace.  This crane was given to me by a stranger; I think that I should have left it there or brought it down to Ground Zero but at the time I was in such a haze, I kept it.  The crane lived in my pocket for a week and I would sometimes rub the wings unconsciously for comfort.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Little Box

Object: Sequoia cone; Napenthe Restaurant, Big Sur, CA Date: December 30, 2010

After a very long drive - in your opinion, far too long - to Big Sur, we stopped for lunch at Napenthe.  You and I took a brief hiatus from the rest of the family to stretch out, whereupon you discovered these sequoia cones.  You've loved seeds from a very early age and that day you learned the words "pine cone" and "redwood."  Of the pile of things we brought home with us from our trip, you placed one of these cones in your special box and like to hold it up against your other seed pod.  Sometimes, when your California counting book is in the same room as your box, you like to take the sequoia cone out and hold it against the picture of the ten redwood trees.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object:  Two ginkgo leaves; NYC Date: Fall 1999

I spent my first year as an adult in NYC walking the city.  I'd choose an avenue and walk it from the top of the island down, then return up the island on a parallel avenue.  I can't remember what street this was, though I do know that it was a crisp, clear fall day.  I vividly remember stooping down to the ground to pick these leaves up as a reminder of how beautiful and invigorating New York City was, and how great it felt to be young and alone in such a metropolis.

[objectofmemory-blog]

Big Box

Object:  Window blind chain; Cooley Dickenson Hospital waiting room, Northampton, MA Date: Fall 1996

I spent many hours in the waiting room of a hospital my sophomore year in college.  I stole this window blind chain at some point and used it as a bracelet for several years.  The chain served as a reminder of both how important someone was to me - and how vital it was to remember the moment.