Last weekend, Michelle, my youngest daughter, stopped by for the weekend. She told me of her plans over a month ago. Michelle lives in California and hasn’t been back to the area where she grew up in Indiana for at least a half dozen years. Therefore, I spent a lot of time cleaning up the house and preparing for Michelle’s arrival. In the process, I found a couple of sculptures that she had done in elementary school, along with a plate she painted.

In one of our emails, I said she could pick up some of her things meaning her terra cotta creations and her place. However, when Michelle moved out to California nearly a decade ago, she left a dozen plastic storage containers with books, clothing, and various mementos. They were stored nicely in my garage for all those years. I wasn’t thinking about the large plastic containers.

When Michelle arrived for her visit, I gave her sculptures and the plate. I also added a cup that she made as an adult. Then, I realized she wanted to go through all the large plastic storage boxes. We spent several hours Saturday afternoon sitting on my garage floor going through all the large containers. There were things that were thrown away. However, most of the items were put back into the containers and loaded into her rental car. She then took them to Goodwill.

Michelle was going to take a dozen small terra cotta cups she made as an adult and give them to Goodwill too. I suggested that I keep them along with the cup I have had for years. They are now decorating my home.

Finally, Michelle put all the items that she wanted to keep in one container to save. This is one of her treasures. It is a story that she wrote when she was 7 ½ and was in first grade. She titled her essay, Once Upon a Time.