This morning I sat down to finish up the Christmas cards, and found that the addresses kept in the Franklin Planner were somehow incomplete. I dug up the old address book from the junk drawer where it lies forgotten, broken, faded, stained and far, far out of date. I asked myself why I continue to keep it year after year, despite it's place in life as "no longer useful". As I turned the pages, I discovered exactly why I keep this piece of history.
My Mom gave this to me as a gift, so how could I part with it. Her old address is there, though she's been gone since 1996. It's full of people no longer with us, and I smiled as their memory returned of the days when I lovingly placed their address on the Christmas envelope. There are anniversaries of those no longer together, and those who are still together after all these years. This little book was passed around to friends so they could record their addresses when we moved from North Carolina to Minnesota in 1993. Some looked suspicious....like Elvis "the King" Presley at Horseshoe Trailer Park, Lot 69 in Lutz, FL. His birthday is "you know".
It was a walk through history with all of its eraser marks from moves, and the addition of cell phone numbers and email. There was even an old pager number!
The missing addresses have now been transferred to the Franklin Planner, which will likely meet its fate at the back of the junk drawer some day.
So now you wonder...where did the old address book go? Yes, you guessed it. It went back into the junk drawer, a treasure trove of memories I just can't bear to part with yet.
