Packing Up the Past

As we pack UPS boxes with old photos and a few other items, the transition from one home to another requires jetissoning a lot of sentimental memorobilia along with practical items that may be worth less than the price of shipping.

It's a good time to remember that we come into this world with no pockets, and when we leave this world, we similarly have no pockets.

The easiest way for me to accept giving the VHS version of a favorite James Garner/Debbie Reynolds movie I saw in high school with childhood friends or fine china used at memorable holidays to Goodwill and trashing old-favorite but stained t-shirts that, as Julie says, not even the homeless would take, is to remember that when we leave a cruise, all of the wonderful people, amenities and furnishings will stay behind, awaiting a new batch of travelers to take our place.

It does not diminish the value of what we experienced when we leave that behind.

We enjoyed a wonderful 8-year vacation in Redondo Beach.  Our condo with an ocean view proved to be a comfortable "Suite" from which to experience leisurely walks along the beach, watching dolphins arc through the ocean, occasionally catching waves.

New adventures await elsewhere.

Even as we pack, however, we continue to create more memories.  We've enjoyed some nice visits with Jay, Sasha and JoJo as they've toted away a few items. 

Their good friend Viraj, who was the ceremonial officient at their wedding in Bermuda, also pitched in to help.  We enjoyed a delicious sausage and french fries dinner with them on the patio at Wurstkuche, a biergarten transplanted into Venice, California.

Wesley with friends Joy and Judy Mays and sister Darlene

Back to the task at hand, Julie set an ambitious goal beyond the usual deferring decisions on what to keep to a new storage area.

Included in this total sifting of the wheat from the chaff were separation of old photos from frames and deteriorating photo albums, writing names on the back of photos to identify those pictured to younger people who never met them.  I've included a handful of what are many crates of photos to this blog, which has over the past 14 years become my preferred storage method, one I hope someone will be kept alive after I have departed this earthly plain many decades from now.

In watching the video clip above from "How Sweet It Is" as I reluctantly recyled the tape, I was reminded how what we visualize positively can materialize in our futures.  I actually had forgotten that the movie prominently featured cruising, which would become a prominent part of my life many years later.  In another rather odd occurence that I hadn't noticed previously, in looking at the family Coats of Arms that my dad had made for us in Old World Village right after Julie and I married, our last name icons includes anchors against a red background.  Red was my favorite color as a child, so my dad might have selected that for what are not historic family icons, but the anchors were selected 14 years before we became Cruise Planners.  In any case, Amy said she would rescue the newly established Coats of Arms from the trash heap.  Undoubtedly, our progeny will bring great honor to our family's recently minted sigils.

My smiling dad Harry (#10) with his basketball team

My smiling mom Mary in front of Uncle Edwin, Granddaddy Julius, Aunt Ann, Aunt Opal and Grandmother Alma

Wesley and Darlene