Editing & Purging is difficult for me at the best of times, I'm deeply Sentimental and have an affinity for many things.
Detaching myself from objects and the Memories they hold for ME is difficult enough... and so sorting through the objects and Memories of someone else that I Love who has passed from Time into Eternity is an edit & purge long procrastinated and intentionally put off.
When my Dad and his youngest Sister passed through the Veil many years ago it was left up to my Brother and I to clean out their Home and dispose of everything.
I held an Estate Sale, I donated truckloads to Charities, and divided with my Brother those items we wanted to keep for obvious Sentimental reasons.
But there are always THE PHOTOS & tiny keepsakes each person cherishes in their Lifetime... I just couldn 't go through all that while I was grieving and emotionally raw... and so I boxed those items of their Sentiments up and thus they had remained until now, almost a decade later.
And yes, that Baby is Me... and the Portrait is hand colored by my Dad, since back in those days almost everything was in Black & White so the fine Art of hand coloring Photos was something my Artistic Dad enjoyed doing and was very good at... I remember as a Child that I liked that he made my swarthy sallow complexion Rosy Pink instead with his Artistic liberties. *LOL*
As a Child I wasn't always as happy having light hair and eyes but a complexion that didn't always match that fairness.
It looked Exotic and natural on my Family members with the lovely Blue-Black hair... and the dark sparkly eyes like my Uncles & Aunts... on me I just thought it looked rather odd. *Smiles*
Especially since my baby Brother had the flawless Peaches & Cream Porcelain skin, big Hazel eyes, thick Black curly hair & long lashes... what a cutie he was... it just wasn't fair! *Smiles*
Now I'm fiercely proud of my rich diverse Heritage and embrace my Natural complexion... with maturity came outgrowing the ugly duckling feelings and celebrating my differences.
Since I have a particular "thing" for Photographs and everyone in the Family knows it, I often inherit ALL the Photos nobody else wants or decides I should be the Family Archivist for and I'm totally down with that.
Many of these photos hold special Memories and meaning for me too, especially those of my Parents...
Or are a visual record of the Ancestors... some I remember and some I never met... and lifelong Friends of the Family... so being the Keeper Of The Past is something I've always taken seriously and with my Love of Old it has been a Joy to be the one that gets to keep & safeguard them.
However, there are mounds of those other keepsakes and photos that hold no meaning at all to me personally... and editing and purging those wasn't a process I was looking forward to tackling...
But last night I did... for hours... and I must commend myself for doing quite well with very little anxiety or guilt about it... as I sifted through boxes and albums full of my Aunt & Dad's photos and keepsakes... collected over their long lifetimes...
Enough time had passed that I didn't feel guilty disposing of those things that weren't mine and yet held Sentiment for someone close to me who is no longer here to enjoy them. They have detached from this World and now it was time for me to let go of those things I wouldn't be passing along. But I did end up with these two precious boxfuls of those items that will be passed along & I'm sharing on the Post today. Photos such as this one of my Lovely Bohemian Mom in her Youth, with flowing skirts, loads of unusual Jewelry and long Blue-Black curly hair, just as I remember her growing up... of the places I recall in our many travels around the World while my Dad served in the Military...
And my Dad's favorite ones of my Mom... Exotic and a Sassy Boheme' Fashionista! If she wasn't wearing bold Gypsy Style Skirts and billowy Blouses... she had long Silk Kimona Style Wraps layered over delicate French Lace and ensembles made of other lucious European fabrics. *Winks* And always the Bohemian Bling! *Smiles* I realized as I waded through piles of Photos that alas, Dad had kept very few of himself... his most cherished photos were those of Mom and the Family.
And, why, *insert squeal of delight*... that's THE 'Fantasy Shed' with Parakeet flights attached to it of my Gran-Gran's in North Wales... where I told you in a previous Post I had spent many hours daydreaming amid the Sepia & Sage Splendor inside that I have never quite been able to replicate... but I can still see... and even smell the delightful aroma of... in my mind's eye...
You see it looked similar to a Carol Hicks-Bolton Barn Styling that brought back floods of Memories of Gran-Gran's Shed interior! It's as if she channeled Gran-Gran's Shed interior when she did this Styling!!!
I had heady doses of Nostalgia as I discovered pictures my Artistic Dad designed & drew... and
Rare photos of my Exotic Native American Grandmother...
And the many Aunts & Uncles... Cousins... Nieces & Nephews...
And one day the next generations will likely have to go through this same process when I pass from Time into Eternity myself...
And Lord knows they'll have a much bigger job of wading through my Sentimental objects and massive Archived photo collections, Steamer Trunk & Cabinet fulls! *Winks* I don't envy them the process... *LOL*
Although it wasn't an entirely anxiety ridden process to be sure... taking a stroll down Memory Lane and having a Rush of Nostalgia as I once again discovered old Photos of the people and events that shaped my World growing up and I have fond Memories of was a Joy. Yep, that's Yours Truly in my cap & gown... now faded to lovely Sepia tones from age! *LOL*
And my next Project involving these precious Heirlooms is to go on a Treasure Hunt for Beautiful Antique Photo Albums to display them in... because I feel they've spent far too much time hidden away in boxes, regardless of how Lovely the boxes are that nestle them... and then delight the G-Kids with the Stories from our own special Books of Life... Our Story... and what a rich one it is...
Dawn... The Bohemian