Three Things

So last night sitting at the dinner table with my parents, we go to talking about Hurricane Ike. At first we were talking about how crazy weather reporters had to be to stay and wait out a storm that they were all saying was going to destroy Galveston. Then we moved into evacuations and I threw out the question "What three items would you take if that was all you could carry?" Of, course, cell phones and Ipods could fit into pockets so they didn't count. My dad said he would take his important papers box, a box of momentos from when we were kids, and the big tv from the basement. It took three people to get that thing into the house so I'm not sure how he would manage that by himself if we had to make a run for it. But I guess adrenaline can be powerful. My mom said she would take the financial records, an album of home movies, and her old Bible. All good things. Then it was my turn. My own questions stumped me. What would I take? Well, here goes. Three things.
1. My post card collection- From Washington State to Florida, from Iraq to St. Martin, my collection is vast and varied. It's not so much the actual postcards that I would miss, it's the feelings I get when I page through my book and see the kindness of those who have given the cards to me. People who, on vacation or business, have taken the time to go out and buy me a postcard. Some buy one and write a message, others buy a few and write nothing but each one is special and means something to me. I can tell you who gave me each one. So that would be the first thing in my bag.
2. My diploma- I know that this can be replaced with just a letter or a phone call but this would go in my bag next. It's really more than a piece of paper framed between four pieces of wood. When I look at the diploma I can't help but remember my four years at West Chester. That feeling of "Oh it didn't burn down over break" that I would get when we would drive up New Street after Christmas. Or weekends in Schimdt with Chrissy cheering on Goldie Beacom and eating pizza on a pretzel. Two a days at Widener.French toast and mashed potatoes in the caf. Yeah, that would go in my bag.
3. My brown box- I have a box in my closet that holds every card I have ever received since high school. Birthday cards, Christmas cards, thinking of you cards. They are all there. I went through it a little while ago, secretly hoping to find a misplaced dollar bill, and wound up reading every one. It was fun reading notes from Jenn and Katy about what they were up to and I expecially liked the occasional card from Chris. He really is a good card writer (Thanks Allison!!)

So that's it, my three things.