Everytime I clean out cabinets, drawers, closets, or the storage room, I get a little nostalgic. I relive little snippets of our lives.
I cleaned out our file cabinets yesterday and got rid of some old tax returns, DEA forms (some unopened in their envelope–I bet they are worth A LOT of money in today’s black market), application to obtain more DEA forms, old doctor’s day sheets listing patient appointments, dental liability applications, and lots of dental articles I thought I would read when I had time.
In the stack are some 2008 Texas Aggie magazines, one that featured the village in Tuscany where I studied abroad more than 15 years ago. Another magazine had Elsa Murano on the cover–the first WOMAN and HISPANIC to be named president of Texas A&M. I was impressed by her long list of accolades, merits, despite having had to flee Cuba during Castro’s communist reign. She moved to the US without speaking English. She resigned a year later from her position as TAMU president.
I found old tax statements from when I was employed at the dental school, when Matt was in residency (reminded me of our humble beginnings!), and also from when he worked at a down town San Antonio hospital (a scary place!) moonlighting to ensure we would be able to make our mortgage payment. All this was 10-12 yrs ago. I cleaned out Mother’s Day Out statements, student loan statements, Continuation Education certificates…all this so important 10 years ago. I don’t remember the checks I wrote to the Grace Point MDO in San Antonio, but I remember the emotion of taking my sweet little girl (only 18 months old) in the summer of 2005 to be cared for by someone else so I could get some rest. I remember almost every one of those days and what her teachers would say about her. “She ate everything but her plate!” “She climbs all over the place!” “She’s a little monkey!” “She is such a sweet little girl!”
I found notes from bible studies I’d taken and lists of scriptures I’d memorized years ago…and I still remembered some of them.
I shared with Matt some of my “findings” so we could reminisce and laugh together. The stack of papers that resulted from my purging seem inconsequential now. What I produced, collected, billed, filled in my days as a dentist was long forgotten. I couldn’t remember my patients names, but I remember the joy of coming home after a long day at work and seeing my two little girls faces filled with excitement when mama got home. That’s what really matters and what I remember.
“The heart remembers most what it has loved best. “
(I’ve seen this quote before and don’t know who to credit–if you know the source please let me know!)
Raining Joy 