THE FURURE MEMORIES THAT HELEN COLLECTED

THE FUTURE MEMORIES HELEN COLLECTED

1.

When Helen was nine, and her brother Bart was seven, their parents asked them to watch the old, classic film ‘The Kill A Mockingbird’ with them. Their mother said it was a film all that young people should watch, and their father agreed.

After the film was over Helen and her mother sat at the kitchen table while they talked about the film. As their conversation was ending, Helen suddenly smiled at her mother.

“Mom, I know the film is about being fair and honest and accepting different types of people and how their Dad did the right thing, although some folks hated him for doing it and I read the book last year. Anyway can I get an old wooden box to keep things in from when I was a kid?”

“Of course you can, Honey,” she assured her daughter, then added, “but it won’t contain the same things that Jem saved from those 1930s to 40s years.”

“But how do we know that was Jem who kept those things in the box and not Scout? I mean, it was Scout telling the story.”

“Yes, she was, but Jem was the one who found them in that knothole. But what I think would be interesting to me is why you suddenly want to save those things.”

“Well, sometimes I think about Grandpa Ralph and how he is always forgetting things, like his own phone number or what day it is, but then he remembers things from when he was a kid.”

“It works that way sometimes when you have Alzheimer’s Disease, and we’ve talked about this, Honey. But he’s very old and his memory comes and goes. That’s why your Dad and I hired his live-in housekeeper to take care of him.”

“I suppose, but when I get that old I want real things I can hold to help me remember being a kid and growing up.”

“I think it’s a wonderful idea, but please remember that not all old people are like your Grandpa Ralph. His sister Ellen, your great Aunt, seems to remember everything. And, Sweety, you’re very smart for your age, make good grades in school and as long as you keep learning and keep your mind active I’m sure you’ll stay young in mind no matter your age.”

“I think so, too, but where I can get some old wooden boxes to keep things in?”

“A lot of places. Some Cigar boxes are still made of wood and so are some boxes that hold paint brushes. And we might can find some at a thrift shop or hardware store.”

“Or we could ask Uncle Johnny because he love to make things in his shop.”

“Yes, I can ask my brother. So, have you decided what kind of things you want to keep?”

“I think I’ll start with a report card, some of the Campfire Badges, some of the poems I wrote on paper, some of the Cat’s-Eye Marbles Grandma gave me and some of the cool, shiny rocks I got down by the riverbank the last time we went camping.”

“That’s a good beginning and, because you’ll keep saving things, you’ll soon fill up that box.”

“Probably will.”

“So, what I suggest, Sweety, is that we’ll ask your Uncle Johnny, to make you a lot of them. And I suggest, as you add more keepsakes, and have more boxes, that you mark each year they were filled.”

“You’re so smart, Mom!”

“Thank you, Honey, but you’ll grow up smarter. And, because there’s no school tomorrow, we’ll go visit Uncle Johnny.”

Helen smiled warmly, then rose from her chair to hug her mother.

2.

So, starting at age nine, Helen collected and kept things that were important to her at the time. And, as a senior citizen, Helen has a custom-built bookshelf to hold the wooden boxes, of which there are sixty-seven of them now. And the shelf shares wall space in her study with the books she’s read, loved and saved.

As she grew older what was important seemed to change from year to year. Still, she wanted physical items to hold. By the time she started high school, the saved items were more about her and the people she met and the new adventures she was having as a young adult.

Among her young adult saved memories were photos of her first boyfriend, her brother’s first girlfriend, her in her Prom dress, her first car and her high school friends. Also saved were music she loved, some on cassettes, most on CDs. Then in later boxes are the birth certificates of her two children, her marriage license, her Diploma in Education, some of the drawings her third grade students drew, photos with her extended family many family vacation photos and her husband’s service Metals awarded to him, including the Purple Heart awarded her when he died in a war in the Middle East.

The boxes, tokens to fond memories, and the sad memory of losing her husband in a war she could never understand are sitting, waiting to be opened. She rarely opens the boxes because her memory retention is still acute, still vivid. But both her children have assured her they want, and will cherish, them. So, memories will be saved after she passes when the time is right. 

And, though they are rarely opened, an exception was two years ago when she was doing some research for a new novel she was writing about a young girl growing up in the late 60s and early 70s, a sometimes confusing, turbulent, and exciting time. The novel, aimed at the young adults market, was published last fall and it included a lot of the items she had collected while living and learning how to become a strong, respectful and caring adult.