Memory Box

I love to gush about my Mom and just how incredible of a Mom she has always been. Way back when I first started this blog, I shared about a special gift my mom gave me, my brother, and sister when she presented each of us with a one-year calendar log of our lives as two-year-olds--a daily log of some of the funny things we did and said, and how our personalities really started coming out.

Just a few weeks ago, my mom presented my sister and I each with a box filled with all sorts of childhood papers and memories. We had a blast looking through them and couldn't believe all of the stuff she saved...

There are my first cards I ever received from family and friends,...

...all kinds of things I made in school,...

...and even "buttons" of my high school dance team photos {parents were given these to wear to any of their kids' sporting events or performances}. Oh, and my lovely Junior High photo i.d. card, braces and all.

Then there are drawings I did and my mom recorded the date and age I was when I created them. She also added extra notes, like the funny conversation we had below.

Apparently I dabbled in poetry at an early age, and dictated it to my mom before I could write it myself.

I love how my mom recorded precious moments like the one we shared below. If she had never written it down, it is likely it would have been forgotten. Now we can both treasure that moment always.

My mom saved all kinds of pictures I made for her, cards I wrote, and little letters I wrote to her during church.

And the box contained some of my oddest creations:

"One sunny morning I found Judy Garland under my egg. I was so happy.
Then I hugged her." {I had a BIG thing for the Wizard of Oz starting at age three.}

Here's Judy, under my egg.

How thoughtful is my Mom for taking the time to save all of these little things for all three of her kids? She knew how fun it would be for us one day to go back through them as adults. It brought back so many memories that I had forgotten, and as I looked at some of the things I drew, I was instantly transported back into time as I clearly remembered making it.

I found so many, MANY drawings and cards in the box where I wrote, "Mom, you are the BEST mom in the world!" I meant it with all my heart when I wrote it as a child, but I believe it now as an adult more than I ever did before.

This memory box is a priceless treasure. Thanks, Mom.