Boxes, Boxes and More Boxes

I had to laugh when I read Mandy's post about the box that Christine "decorated". It reminded me that Christine was a hoarder of boxes. I'm not sure how that came about. It could have been from the days when I had worked from home and shipped almost daily. We were always scrounging for boxes. Anyway, when she shared an apartment with Jim and Robert, there was a linen closet in their bathroom that had no shelves. She took over that closet and filled it two thirds of the way with folded boxes. On top of those boxes they stored their toilet paper. It was quite the site to see. Jim had trouble understanding why she wanted to save those boxes and was always telling her she needed to get rid of some boxes but she refused. Because he bugged her about it so much she told him that he would never get to use any of them. Now thats tough love!

Jan
Christine's mom

Missing Empty Boxes

Hi All!

It's Mandy again. Been a long time, but believe me, Christy is often on my mind even still.

When Christy graduated from St. Kate's in 1999 and moved into her first grown-up apartment, her friend, Jen Bender, hooked her up with some pretty sweet boxes from the bookstore. Those suckers were a perfect size and could take quite a beating because they originally contained text books. Christy held onto those puppies over the years, even when she moved to L.A., and she shared some with me in 2000 when I made my transition into adulthood. I, in turn, also saved those precious boxes to be used over and over again for my subsequent moves.

Those boxes, along with memories, also contained multiple markings from all our many transitions through life (i.e.: "books;" "fragile;" "kitchen stuff;" etc.). There was one box that Christy had decorated during a late night of last-minute packing which was particularly awesome. On it she had drawn a stick figure of herself exclaiming: "It's Me!" I loved this box. It always made me smile when I saw it.

The problem is, now I can't find it! I've looked everywhere, but there is no stick-Christy to be found :( I must have lent it to someone at some point...and what are the chances they were pack-ratty enough to have saved it? Highly unlikely. So, here I am missing a stupid, cardboard box. Craziness.

Life lesson? Life does go on after loss, but it sure can take some strange, twisty turns down memory lane;)

Miss you always, Christy.

~Mandy