Thursday, March 20, 2008

The Unboxing



My aunt sent me a box of things from my grandmother. Tomorrow, it will have been two years since Abuela died, and although my aunt set up a memorial website where we could post about her, and my sister-in-law wrote a lovely tribute, I haven't been able to write anything yet. I'm not sure I can, still.



The box contained old pictures and letters to my grandparents from my father, scraps Abuela had saved from when we made my wedding dress, and an empty bottle of her Chanel perfume. It smells like her.



I cried looking through the pictures and reading the letters. I'm not sure why. Maybe because Matt and Ethan never got to meet her, and maybe because she never got to meet then. Maybe because I never knew my father as an adult, and he never saw the person I've become. Maybe because I had a happy childhood.

3 comments:

brite said...

She was so beautiful, and you definitely resemble her. I'm all teary looking at the pictures...what sweet memories.

Elisa Morrison said...

Thank you Brite. I always thought she was beautiful, but was blown away when I saw that picture of her in my early teens. It was a bittersweet thing, but writing about it that day helped.

Courtney said...

What a blessing to have those things to cherish and remember your abuela with. I recently went through my grandmother's things and felt such joy and sadness at the same time.