A Few of My Favorite Things

If my house were to be on fire, this is the first thing I would grab:

If you were a fireman you would probably think I was a crazy cat lady and I was saving my cat food. 

What I am really saving is something that means the world to me!!

THIS

This is a box that my grandmother had saved for many years and had out in her storage shed.  After she passed away I brought it back to my house, contents unknown at the time.  My grandmother had a great passion for saving all things that might have a historical significance.  I have a whole bag of old newspapers, from when Alaska became a state to the first man on the moon.  That will be a different blog :)

This, my friends, is a box of letters and tax receipts.  They are from my great great grandparents and great grandparents.  There are also several things in there from my dad to my grandmother when he was a just a boy...she kept so many of the little things he made!!  Like this card:

Inside it says:

To Mother Who Is The Sweetest One

Here Is Love From Her Son

It makes me wistful, I have a five year old grandson, so I can pretty well imagine what my dad was like as a young boy, still innocent and sweet and writing that to his mother. 

and his school photo from 1940-1941.  He was 8 years old at that time.  Just seeing this photo makes me miss him so much. 

This is a promissory note written by my great grandmothers father to someone else.  It is dated Jan 1, 1880.  It's hard to believe that I am holding a document in my hands that was once in their hands and reading the words that they wrote over 132 years ago. 

This is a tax receipt from 1884 for some of the land they owned.  I've done so much research on that side of the family, the land that they owned is only about 70 miles from where I live now.  This box is full of tax receipts for their land.  I don't even remember how far back the oldest date is, but they are really really old.  I have traveled back there and looked around.  My dad and his family lived in that little town when he was small.  When the train came through it just devastated that small town. 

So now you know, one of my most prized possessions.  Just a box of history, but it means the world to me.  It brings me close to those who traveled before me, and some who have guided and influenced me greatly, and in whos steps I can only hope to follow!

Oftentimes when I am outside and the wind is blowing softly through the East Texas pine trees and I watch the grass sway and bend in the pastures, I think of my forefathers, what they endured to travel to Texas in the 1800's, how they worked so hard to establish their land, how they signed up to fight in the wars and raised families.  I am very proud of my heritage, and very proud to be an American.