Olden, Golden Treasures

  Before the Internet and a little after my first big collection of PC games, I was like any other child of the 90s with my toys and dolls. A lot of them were lost in a flood that happened here in 1992. A few survived the watery mess and were sent to my other home. As my dad and I clean up that house for the next potential tenant, I found a nice collection of things that brought me comfort.

  I don't remember much about the house we lived in before we moved to the one I'm helping to clean. I remember it had a driveway, a small basement, a tiny party room, and an orange/adobe colored kitchen. I remember the stairs you'd have to climb to get to the kitchen. For a long time, it hurt me so much to lack memories of that place. This was the house my mother and father bought together once they had good jobs. Before I came along, they celebrated everything in that house with friends and family. After I came along, my mother beamed with every passing moment she shared with me. We moved when she passed away because it was just too hard for my dad to be there with so much of her spirit around the walls of the earth-toned abode.

  I tear up a bit because I've had so much trouble remembering her but I'm able to remember silly little things like how big our TV was and the two dogs that lived on opposite sides of the house. Anyway, when I started cleaning at the other house, I found a lot of her stuff in the mix with my own. I found some kind of jingly toy apple that I thought I'd lost. I smiled at the ridiculous thing shaking it and holding it in my hand. I was always attached to that thing way beyond the suggested age of play.

  I stuffed it in the bag of things to keep as I moved on to an entire collection of ripped stuffed toys and plastic odds and ends from my childhood. I found  a Pound Puppies scribble board, an old yellow dog chair I sat in when my aunt braided my hair, my Glow-Worm, an Ice Tickle Bear, a framed Aladdin picture, and a few of the Easter and Christmas dolls my aunts and grandmother gave me over the years. Tucked under a shelf was my pink Power Wheels Pink Barbie Corvette. These were the things that kept my introverted self busy. Being a socially awkward kid wasn't fun but I always had something to play with. Instead of regretting my childhood, I look back and feel completely blessed to have parents and family who loved me with all their heart and soul.

  I was also happy my father took the time to pack as many toys away as he possibly could. Though I'm not sure if my future includes a husband and child, it was touching to go over the idea of cleaning off some of these treasures and passing them on. The likes of eBay and Amazon won't be seeing these things on their lists. It also helped me to realize how important it really is to never forget where you come from. The tiniest artifact could be the one thing that sparks a memory, an idea, or a forgotten part of yourself. Dad laughed at me because I was walking around shaking the apple over and over. I found the sound incredibly soothing. It's got a kind of African Thumb Piano jingle-jingle type sound. It was one of many toys from my childhood that somehow made everything all right. I'm glad I found it and the rest of my stuff nestled deep in the heart of the basement.