A Hope Chest

The last few times I made a trip to Ohio, I packed up the extra space in our car with stuff I'm been storing at my dad's house for the last ten years. You know the kind of stuff you didn't want to get rid of but didn't want to lug around with you from apartment to apartment in college. Now that I have my own house my dad and I agreed it was time to clear some of it out.

One such item....
Jim and I have plans for a little paint job and transformation to a toy box for the babies room. But that meant first finding a home for the precious memories it has been storing for nearly 15 years. There were a few bigger items that were easier to make decisions about....a mirror (keep it), a collection of beautiful doilies that were my mothers (keep 'em), a few random stuff animals and cookbooks (donated).

Then we move onto to this lovely keepsake box filled with random, but apparently sentimental items......

Let's start with the paper collection: a laffy taffy wrapper, a card from by brother, the label from sparkling wine with NYE 1997 etched into the back, a completely random note from my dad that says nothing particularly touching or sentimental, a letter from my mom apologizing for an argument, a few touching sayings from Dove chocolate, a quote on perseverance, and a few other random encouraging notes/letters from adults such as our minister.


I tucked away the letter from my mom and tossed/recycled everything else.

Next up in the keepsake box were my random assortment of miniature "things" including: dried carnations, a hand-carved bear, Guatemalan worry dolls, some random Christmas ornaments, a pink shiny rock, and a really old Hershey kiss which I associate with a memory of my first "love" and the Goshen Dairy parking lot, although I can't be certain that it's an accurate connection.


I kept the necklace and worry dolls.

And finally, not in the keepsake box but in the chest itself we have the following figurines:

I think the suitcase is pretty suit so it's currently being used as a bookend in the living room. I donated everything else with the exception of the larger carousel house which is also a music box, which I would be nice if we have a girl or otherwise gifted to my adorable niece.

A whole chest of things that once seemed important and valuable.....