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Recovery

I had a difficult time getting to sleep last night even though I was exhausted. I let one of the dogs sleep in bed with me so I had a warm body nearby. I'm sore today. My forearms ache from my death grip on the steering wheel. I think I pulled a muscle in my right forearm; I can't hold anything (like a coffee cup) without some pain. Perhaps I should stop before I start to sound too geriatric. I am, however, feeling very fortunate and thankful for a mother and grandmother who pray for me daily. My ordeal last night could have been far worse.

It's a good thing I didn't really have any plans for today. So far, I've sorted through my photographs. I had already planned to do this and bought some gorgeous hat boxes the other day just for this occasion. I'm amazed at how much I hold on to and why I feel the need to keep doubles of just about every picture. I'm also glad I have so many photos because they tell so many stories, like the time I took my nephew to the zoo and sprained my ankle on the way in or the day at the beach where I told my husband that he was going to marry me (and stood there dumbfounded that I didn't run him off with that prediction). The look in my mother's eyes tell the status of her mental health. Hugs and kisses and smiles are all reminders of how much I am loved.

I'm also throwing away a lot of photos. I cringe each time I place another one in the trash, but this is as good a time as ever to purge my memory box. My grandmother and I have started going through her family photos, and that process has given me a new perspective on what really is a keeper in the photo album world. There is no reason to hold on to baby photos of my friends' children or blurred photos of half a dog's head. And you know what? I actually like looking through each picture and deciding if I like it enough to make it part of the baggage I'm about to lug to Fort Myers. There might be a life lesson in there.

The clock tells me that Pretty Woman is about to come on the t.v., and that seems like an ideal movie for me to continue my reminiscing and purging. (I like to have on something I've seen enough so I don't have to devote all my attention.) I'll leave you with a sight I just caught from outside my window here. I don't think I've ever before seen an aloe plant bloom.

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Christy said…
How pretty! My parents' aloe blooms every now and then. It's quite a sight.
I love looking through pictures. I, too, have photos of objects which I'll never need to remember and scenery which will not inspire unless it is re-visited in person. I'm always compelled to take several shots in order to get "the one." The problem then comes in discarding the runners-up.
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