Skip to main content

boxing away yesterday

There it was their whole story down to one box. A box full of pictures, CDs, memories, and gifts.

When she was done gathering all the things that belonged to yesterday she thought long and hard about what she was to do with it.

When a relationship ends it’s a ritual to remove all things that remind you of him/her. Many people frantically gather their things and or even burn them. They bring down the pictures, remove all the gifts, fold away all the memories, like if by removing all the physical objects they could do away with yesterday.

But does it really make a difference if you have that box hidden under your bed, collecting dust, or it being far away at a landfill, becoming dust? Can you really throw away yesterday by simply removing all the things that remind you of it? Or do we kid ourselves by thinking its easier to forget this way – after all… isn’t healing a process?

She didn't want to forget, put it past her, like it never happened. She'd rather not pretend that song on the CD he burned for her didn’t make her cry once. That his cards always made her smile. Or that the t-shirts that he brought her from his trips, are still brand new because he forgot she didn’t wear t-shirts.

She decided to keep it all as a way of accepting everything that reminded her of all the pain, all the memories, and all the lessons that yesterday brought. It’s not that she can’t part with these things. I’m sure with time all those objects will collect dust and in due time they will be only a memory. But as of now, she needs them. To remember the story, to accept her mistakes, to grow… so she can have a future. It’s true we lose our battles but it’s also so true we win wisdom for the days ahead. Thinking back now, there are so many moments of her life she wishes she could go back to, hitting the stop button at just one moment and erasing everything that came after it. But each place she could think to push stop would mean missing something that came after it. Like the lessons she's learned and the strength she recovered. She needed it all in the end, to let her own story find its finale…

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Love never returns void

Many years ago I wrote a piece on a dear friend of mine. At the time her story unraveled with a heartbreaking ending. But if anything remains true from that story is that she is and will continue to be the eternal optimistic… who always, always believes in love. She paced back and forth, looking at the door and back at her watch every few minutes. She was nervous and her hands were sweating. Finally to catch a breath she sits down and lets out a deep sigh. And she closes her eyes. It’s surreal to her how years ago this was the exact same spot she last saw him. Where he promised he loved her and that love was everlasting. The last place before their story crashed and unraveled. She never thought shed be back here again after the way it ended. Years had passed and life and time had taken their toll on their story. One she thought was signed and sealed, shelved on a book case and had become dusty with time. She got up at the sound of the announcer saying the flight had arrived. She l...
6 comments
Read more

How to flip tortillas without burning your hand

It was a bright and early morning when I woke up to the sound of my alarm and my sister opening the curtains wide letting in a little too much sunlight. I wanted desperately to turn the other way and sleep in a few more minutes but even on vacation she was a stickler for time. So I rolled out of bed reluctantly, I got dressed, and we headed for the days adventures; snorkeling first on our list. We got to the dock and after boarding instructions we boarded the vessel that would take us to a near island with coral reefs. Finally at our destination the boat anchored and we were handed our gear. So flippers and all people one by one jumped into the vast ocean uninhibited. I did too. I’d forgotten how rough the Pacific was. A greater part of World War II had been fought here. Somehow the waters still reeked of vengeance. Except I forgot I could not swim, and at that moment even how to float. So I was instantly submerged by the undertow and the lapping of the waves. I fought to catc...
Post a Comment
Read more

The magnitude of history

It’s my usual Sunday night, me rummaging through notes and notebooks, editing and writing. I stood up and went into my writing closet. Realizing that the binder I wanted was at the very top, I stood on a stool and yanked at the bottom of the stack. Swiftly it all came toppling over me, hitting me in the head in the process. Papers and folders scattered everywhere. I grunted. I began picking them up one by one when I ran across a manila folder gently titled “WEDDING” in block letters, with a red heart sticker following the word. I’d forgotten I was planning a wedding. I slid slowly to the floor till I was sitting and I began to go through its contents. There were lists of first dance songs and father/daughter songs; clippings of flower arrangements, swatches of fabrics, notebook entries of budgets, and location listings. There it all was. Very detailed and organized. All I ever dreamed of, all I thought I ever wanted. And on the last page, on the back cover of the folder, a pasted...
2 comments
Read more