Looking Back to Look Forward

My parents moved from Fort Worth, TX to Denver a little more than a year ago and out of my "childhood from 6th grade through college" home. Over the Thanksgiving weekend I finally had to face this fact. I accompanied my parents and Elise to THE STORAGE UNIT to retrieve my childhood in 15 gallon Rubbermaid bins and a couple of beat up boxes. It was a very sobering experience. Ever since they were lovingly delivered to our apartment I've been avoiding them. Pushing and sliding them around the apartment but not opening them. Stacking and re-stacking. Finally the other evening I decided to pick the smallest of the bunch and open it. Grades 3-8 bombarded me with photos, birthday cards, programs from ballet recitals and Nutcracker performances, report cards, and my favorite so far...the employment contract (yes you are reading that correctly) that I signed to attend my Magnet elementary school - I was the Postmaster General first semester and the President of my class second semester - which included clauses such as doing my homework in an efficient manner, explanation of the monetary system we used, mall rules and the various positions in our class government. I also found lots of notes and pictures from friends that I am no longer in contact with except through Facebook which really doesn't count. It was very interesting to stir up those memories. This box led me to another of the same size that was stuffed with photos of those same years plus high school. I spent 2 hours looking and organizing photos. Some I disregarded with no feeling, others I had to stare at and recall how I was feeling or what was going on in my life at that frozen moment in time. I also found some love letters from old flames and by some I mean all of them. That's an entry for my journal only.
But looking through all of this stuff really got me thinking of my life right now. How different I am from the girl in those pictures. How that is not Me. I am the person writing this post but when I'm done writing I'll be a different person also. All of my experiences in those boxes contribute to my life experiences but they are not who I am. I am the present. Keeping this mindset is the only way I'll get through the 15 gallon bins.