The Chests

From what I've heard, having a hope chest is pretty normal.  I have a cedar chest I inherited from my grandmother that is currently the home of a few of my dresses as a little girl, and a special set of new clothes I received when we moved to Ogallala from Laura.  My hope for the future is a baby girl.  If we have a boy... poor kid doesn't have any clothes.  But this is all, of course, if we are ever blessed with children.
So instead of dwelling on the uncertain future (God will sort that out and I'll keep working and praying), I would like to take a moment to dwell on the past.
I have another chest in our master bedroom closet.  It contains memories.  Primarily pictures, awards and letters.  Because of last nights ceremony, I had a reason to carefully place another pin in my pin box.  I decided to clean the whole chest out since I was there already.  For a while, I was very sentimental, holding on to every card I ever received (and if any of you know Louise from First Baptist, you know that I got a lot of cards!), so I went through and held on to the most important ones.
I held on to letters, "love one another" notes, letters or recommendation, cards from past students and that had especially touching words from the giver.  I held on to pins, pictures, newspaper clippings and drawings from old friends.  I held on to awards, special gifts (like the reindeer ornament my dad carved), and important funeral bulletins.
It is nice to be reminded of the life I've lived and the memories I've made.  If I ever start to whine about life, tell me to look in my memory chest.  

This little box holds all of my cards, letters and wedding announcements.