Sunday, August 25, 2013

Meaning

When I'm feeling sentimental, I feel like expressing it by writing it down. My mind wanders, and I can be very close to tears...in a good way.

There are a few things I saved of my Dad's. These were personal items that possess a tactile memory, a scent of his, that provide comfort for me in some way ~ that he is still around somehow.

His shaving brush, worn down because he knew this one would see him out, is just like the one I used when I was a kid pretending to shave alongside him in the mirror. He would lather it up nice and foamy using the cake soap that had a circular concave path worn in the middle. I can smell the soap deep in the bristles. There is a magnet glued to the base so that it could be hung upside down in the medicine cabinet to dry properly.

I think we all have things, objects that quench our need to stay connected and remembering. I saved his glasses and case, his comb which has now lost the smell of his hair (hint of Brylcreem), and his pillow cases. I spent a lot of meaningful growing-up time with my Dad. SO many great memories.

I stay connected with my Mom through her jewelry ~ the same pieces that I tried on growing up. The jewelry that came from Malta, from Cairo, and Krakow, and many many other places far away. We connected on many many levels, but jewelry is the object we shared.