Sunday, June 1, 2014

Box of Treasures - Photo Heart Connection ~ May

Recently my daughter and I were cleaning and organizing our storage room. You know the storage room, everybody has one. It is that space where all the stuff you don't know what to do with winds up. Ours is also truly a storage space. It holds our daughter's vast American Girl Doll collection and her assorted pieces of Playmobile. Items that we would never get rid of, keeping them instead for her future children.

I had planned on working on this project this past winter, except that the storage room is barely heated. The thought of wearing my down winter coat to tackle the project did not seem appealing.

So on a recent rainy day, that didn't turn out to be so rainy, we made the storage room our project. The process went so much faster with the two of us, and since many of the items are hers it was better for her to decide to keep, donate or pitch instead of me.

As I started on the far back corner of the room, I came across this box.


I knew it contained some items of my Great-Aunt Viola's. After she passed away, it was my dad and his siblings' responsibility to clean out her house and sell it. My aunt had never married and had outlived all her siblings.

All the great nieces and nephews could pick out things that meant something to us. I chose my treasures from her attic, a place I loved to explore whenever I was at her house. The door to her attic was at the end of her living room. You knew the door led to a magical place. The dark wood four panel door was narrower and shorter than a normal door and the ornate metal door knob was half the size of a regular door knob. When you opened the door you were immediately greeted by a flight of steep, narrow wooden stairs. The kind that creaked with each carefully placed foot. As you looked up the stairs you were greeted by a hazy light from two bare lightbulbs, the air swirling with dust motes. Yes, a magical place indeed.

After my Aunt Viola passed, I chose to keep the extraordinary treasures from her attic that I had played with when I was a child. I have the old vintage Walt Disney and Lassie coloring books that I colored in every time I visited. I have an old wooden seal pull toy, and an old electric plug-in view finder with many disks of 1950's vacation destinations.

For the life of me though I could not remember what was in this box. I brought it upstairs to our dining room table and opened it.


I remember the blue and red yoyo. I played with it all the time, although I was never that good at it. I remember playing Bingo with my aunt using these wooden Bingo pieces, but where were the rest of them and where were the Bingo cards? The rest of the contents of the box were a mystery to me. A Flinch card game? I have never even heard of Flinch. A Pinochle deck and lots of dice.


As I looked through these mystery pieces, I was rewarded with a wonderful surprise. Inside the lid of the Pinochle game, in my aunt's hand writing was a tally of sorts, along with some rules for the game.  I have many wonderful memories of my great aunt so to find something with her handwriting on it was very precious to me, and makes a great photo-heart connection.

Joining Kat:


Joining Heather:






29 comments:

sweetbriardreams said...

I love coming across past family's memories and am fortunate to be surrounded by my Grandad's, however when I come across an old aunt's or uncle's memories it feels as though I have been gifted with another Christmas. Just to see their writing, their thoughts and their dreams is so special.

Diana said...

Love this Sarah. I too, love family memories. What a wonderful post.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful collection of treasures and memories!

Lynne said...

Oh my . . . did I ever love this Sarah . . .
You had me at Photo Heart Connection
and then
American Girl Doll collection
and then . . .
your favorite aunt and
handwriting . . . oh my

Jessica said...

I love how beautiful old handwriting is. What a beautifully descriptive vignette you've painted with words -- you are as talented with words as you are with a camera! : )

cheryl Crotty said...

Family stuff is so much more important now than then...you have great treasures from your Aunt...I get the handwriting bit also...I have framed copies of my Grandmother's, Mother's and now mine...favorite recipes...looks really neat hanging in my kitchen and so often I look up and know that still they are there with me...do something with your box cover.

Unknown said...

Very touching post, pulls at the heart strings. I have a recipe box with many of my aunt's handwritten recipes that I dearly treasure. I keep telling myself I will create an art journal with them but never seem to get around to it. I tried to find a way to email you without success. The 2014 Summer photography scavenger hunt opened today and I thought of you. Here is the link or you can go to my blog for it.
http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/2014/06/2014-summertime-photography-scavenger.html

Sandra said...

What a lovely old box full of meaningful treasures you found. So touching to see your aunt's handwriting too.

Viv@Thoughts from the Desktop said...

Love Sarah we live in Mark's family home and we have so many reminders of his parents' around the house it somehow feels very comforting...

Nina said...

Wonderful find ... I love how you're progressing and creating a curiosity with the first picture, the second one shows more, and then you surprise with the 3rd one showing the text in the lid ... A lovely story!

gina said...

What a wonderful collection of vintage games and toys! And the memories that they trigger keep us connected to the past. There is something so special about handwriting......I hope it won't totally disappear in this century.

Michelle B said...

Such a wonderful box of memories! I love the square format of your images, perfect for the box. Wonderful post.

Deborah Tisch said...

Not only are your images of this treasure so wonderful, your writing and descriptions of going into the attic just take me right there. Lovely photo heart connection!

Kate said...

I love this post! It reminds me of our family's old Scrabble set. On the lid, it includes a list of all the great words and enormous points-awards given over the last 50 years.

Unknown said...

That is my kind if treasure!! Love how it's presented

Kathryn Dyche said...

What a beautiful discovery filled with so many wonderful memories.

Suburban Girl said...

Oh my goodness, my grandmother used to play Flinch with us. I don't think I have seen it since she passed! I love the box of treasured memories and imagining the magical attic at the end of the living room.

Donna Hopkins said...

I feel as though I have been treated to a grown-up version of story time! Your pictures and words belong in a magazine. This is a story we all can relate to - the longing for treasures that represent home and our sense of belonging. I don't recall the game of Flinch, but I do remember sitting around Grandma's old oak table and playing Rook - a great card game that I seldom hear mentioned today. And attics are one of my favorite places, too. Reading of your daughter's collection of dolls brought a smile to my face - we still have the Hess trucks my older son collected and is saving for his future kids. So much for storage rooms!

CJ said...

Oh, what treasures we can find in those forgotten places. I remember that we had a Flinch game when I was young. I'm sure I played it but can't remember anything about it. If someone would ask me if I ever played Flinch I would have said I never heard of it, but I recognized the box immediately. I love how you made a composition with what you found.

I posted my first image to Photo Heart Connection today and connected to your post from there.

Naomi said...

You remind me to pay more attention to my grandparents and their stories.

Adrienne said...

Just wonderful! And handwriting does it for me every.single.time. There's nothing that makes me feel more connected to someone - which is why I journal by hand, write in my scrapbooks by hand...etc. Love this! {Visiting from PHC}

Justine said...

how fantastic and what a great storyteller you are, lovely post

Funkyrosebud said...

Beautiful - the handwriting reminds me of my mother's

Turn The Page said...

A trip down memory lane makes for a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing. I love everything about the "old days" as my now grown kids call them. Vintage game pieces are very special. And there is nothing better than finding handwriting. Good old hand written words...GREAT STUFF! Aloha

Prairie Jill said...

Beautiful photographs, and even more beautiful memories. Lovely photo-heart connection.

MaggieGem said...

What fabulous find, so wonderful to make those connections through family memories!

Zena said...

Wonderful find, I love her precious handwriting, what a gift to you having the chance to visit all those memories again!
Lovely photos and beautiful photo-heart connection

Cathy H. said...

I can feel your excitement in your words at finding this family treasure! Beautifully written and beautifully worded!

Unknown said...

As far as 'family heirlooms' go, I'll pass on the cut glass and china. THIS is my kinda box!!! And I enjoyed trekking - both downstairs with you and upstairs into Viola's attic. :)

xoxo