Memory Anchors
Memory anchors - In the last few years, I have made it a point to get rid of a ton of stuff, so when I do eventually die (which is still up for debate) my children don’t have to get a drop box to dump everything. A few things I have kept, my father’s canvas USPS mail delivery bag (reminds me when we would meet him with our bikes and walk his route with him). A handwritten letter from a girl (now woman) I dated in college (reminds me of an incredible period of change in my life). A leather western style holster with fake bullets - my dad melted solder in empty .22 caliber bullet shells and put them in the bullet loops with a cap gun - one of the coolest gifts I ever received from my father. My Boy Scout merit badge sash, it has 24 merit badges to make Eagle Scout and 5 more to get a bronze palm (reminds me that most things worth attaining take perseverance). A box of birthday cards from my parents some with notes inside (emotions captured and frozen in time like the mosquito trapped in amber in Jurassic Park). A 12-inch diameter Replogle globe that I won back in 1972 in Boy Scouts (I recall that night saying to someone next to me, I am winning that and I did). A Tom Thumb metal cash register of my father’s (made in Jackson, Michigan in the late 40’s – reminders of how well built toys were many years ago). Each one of these items evokes an emotional response and serves as a memory anchor – because like an anchor, it keeps the memory from moving by keeping it still in my mind.