Childhood Souvenir with a Story

When my parents downsized from their house to an apartment, they decluttered many of their possessions. They donated many things and also gave my siblings and I some of the sentimental mementos that we wanted.

I love their mentality. They enjoy seeing us appreciate these mementos while they are still alive. Instead of having all the children split up the mementos after they have passed away, they get to see and enjoy us choosing what we love.

Every time we visit, they tell us to "put our name" on the things we care about. If they still want to keep them, the name is there for the future. Sometimes though, they are ready to part with the items and give them to us in the moment.

A souvenir that I wanted was a wooden sailboat that they had at the cottage. I had bought the boat for my father during my Grade 8 school trip to Southern Ontario that included Toronto and Niagara Falls.

I remember that I had $1.20 left. I saw this sailboat that was $1.10. I was very happy to have found something that I thought my Dad would like with the money I had left. I can still picture myself seeing it in the shop. I think we were given daily allowances for food so although I used to tell the story that I went home with $0.10. I don't believe that I starved on the way home.

After telling my parents the story that either I hadn't told them or they had possibly forgotten, I added a label with my name and the price I paid for it as a reminder of the story.

On a future visit, my father told me that he was happy to part with the boat. It probably didn't have the sentimentality to him as it does to me which is why I love the way that they are parting with their mementos.

They are sharing stories with their mementos and hearing the stories that went with the gifts we gave them. They now get to see us enjoy and display them. The sailboat is even more special now too because we have been reminded of the story that goes with the souvenir.

As I was writing this blog post, this reminded me of the gift my son bought for me at Canyon Saint-Anne on his Grade 8 trip to Quebec City and Montreal. I am now displaying the two gifts together as a reminder of our childhood trips.

Sharing stories and mementos while we are still together adds even more meaning to them. Adding a label or writing the story in a journal helps preserve the memories.