paper gems
February 9, 2011 § 1 Comment
A box of photographs, an eclectic collection of moments casually tossed together for safe storage. Each time I peek at the contents I feel like a small child with a box of costume jewelry; the combination of colorful jewels more beautiful for their haphazard entanglement. I extract images tenderly, the past intersecting with the present.
An undated photograph of my grandparents posed in front of their home lies on top. In the background rests the space of childhood holidays and summer vacations indulged with imaginary expeditions and fairy tale adventures. My senses are arrested with images and sounds of my youth; rows of freshly baked date nut bread protrude pregnantly from hollow soup cans on my grandmother’s kitchen counter, the air charged with the sound of my grandfather’s easy laughter, rich and generous.
Slipping my fingers between thick edges of old photographs I retrieve an early picture of my brother and I, faces red and cheeks damp with tears. We are closer apart where there is less friction between us. I love him dearly, but this is our truth. Sibling rivalry like a wool blanket, its coarseness creating discomfort and warmth.
My parents on their wedding day. There is an awkwardness in their posture that perhaps foreshadows the separation that would become a part of their future and my past. Still I am intrigued by these two young adults that seem at once foreign and familiar. Like paper dolls I am tempted to cover old hurts in bent paper wardrobes and provide them a new story.
One more photo before I tuck the past away for safekeeping. Two young girls, almost identical, peek out of the pile. My unofficial twin, my first friend. Matching clothes and long dark hair we stand shoulder to shoulder. The sentiment in the lines unspoken are greater than the space of our time together. It is learning to be a friend and the memories that linger after good-bye.
I sift through these paper gems rich in nostalgia gathering loved ones close and acknowledging my own spirit reflected in familiar faces.
scribblechic 
So beautifully crafted. You took me with you, and I felt like I was peering over your shoulder and swimming in your thoughts at the same time.