Memories stuffed in a closet

Here is a list of things we "found" as we were cleaning out the closet in my office:

• Cyndi's first pair of glasses - she got them when she was one!


• Lily's first curls


• A gold cross my mother gave to Frederic when he was baptized


• Used pregnancy tests - with an emphasis on "tests." When Cyndi was pregnant with Frederic, we didn't believe the first three tests she took. We wanted to "confirm" the results so my aunt suggested we go to Planned Parenthood (I need to mention we were on vacation in Arizona). When the fourth test confirmed that, "Yes" were were indeed parents, Cyndi began to cry. The nursing assistant at Planned Parenthood must not have been used to tears of joy when she said, "oh...it's not the result you wanted, huh?"


• Letters to and from Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny


• Many cards from Frederic's 3rd birthday


• A cassette tape the kids made for me when Frederic was five and Lily was three


• My father's complete medical record from when he was in two hospitals and a rehab center before he passed away


• A Thurman Munson baseball card I got when I was in third grade. It's the only baseball card I ever collected


• A "Great Show" certificate I received for performing in the talent show as Elwood Blues on March 11, 1982 from Donald Litchfield who was the principal at Stevenson Elementary School


• A Mead Mustang Award I received on December 17, 1982 for "superior effort and achievement"...1982 must have been a great year for me...


• A big box of old VHS tapes from various points in my life including my High School Graduation Ceremony, my College Graduation Ceremony, the 1987 Teenage Mr. Illinois Bodybuilding competition I was in, videos people made for me when I turned 30, and the original tapes from our Wedding Video


• A cassette tape my dad made for me of three songs I sang at Stratford Mall at "Sound Tracks," which was basically a precursor to karaoke. On the tape, I sing "All My Rowdy Friends," "The Power of Love," and a duet of "California Girls" with an old friend, Dave Silvestri


• Many old 8mm tapes of the kids' lives before we got way too lazy and stopped the effort

Memories stuffed in a closet. Sometimes it makes sense to just clean...