Going Through Memories

Happy Holidays!

OK, now that that's out of the way...One of my major projects for my two weeks at home is organizing all of my stuff. I'm always overwhelmed with materialism at Christmas-time, with this over-done flood of buying things (did you know something like 40% of gift cards are never even redeemed?), but this year I am especially aware since I am sorting through EVERYTHING I OWN. For a want-to-be-minimalist like myself, this is not a particularly enjoyable process.

As some of you may know, I moved abroad in less than three days. I was substituting in a different orchestra abroad when I got my job offer. They wanted me to get there as soon as possible, so I rushed home, and with the help of friends and family, wrapped up my life and whisked myself away in about 60 hours. Consequently, my stuff is spread out between the bags I packed, my old bedroom closet at my mom's house, my car, and perhaps some storage at my dad's as well. The project is to re-pack it all into nicely labeled boxes, be realistic and get rid of what I'll never use, and find a few greatly missed items (like those precious black flats with little silver polka dots on them...sigh...) to bring back with me.

As much as I hate confronting all the crap I have, and lamenting the money I could have saved by not purchasing it, I do enjoy stumbling upon some things. My favorite so far was a bundle of letters and cards I've saved. It was like unwrapping a narration of some of my favorite memories. Not particularly significant or big moments in my life, but valuable nonetheless.

As they say, it's the little things that count.

*A letter I wrote to the parents of one of my best friends from my freshman year of college. He was killed in a rock climbing accident in the August before we returned for our sophomore year. That was a rough time.

*A typed summary of the summer of 1997 written by my father. I was 14.

*A few Valentine's Day cards from my college roommate who's getting married this coming summer. She's the master of tongue-in-cheek one-liners.

*A paper my first horn student wrote entitled "Heroes." I was 17 and she was 10 when I was teaching her. She lists her three heroes as Martin Luther King, Jr., Amelia Earhart and me.

*A note scribbled on the back of "Enigma" from "Nimrod Variations" that was passed to me during an All-State Orchestra rehearsal. It was from a percussionist and he was clearing his plans for our honeymoon with me.

*A card I found taped to my locker a few days after my junior recital. The card included: a copy of the program with notes along the way, a description of the sender (a 50 year old bachelor, a clean man, who enjoys nice art and culture, and willing to wait) and a phone number.

*The letter my mom wrote me on the event of my graduation from high school.

So, the bedroom closet is re-done and I've discovered that I have two copies of scores to Brahms Complete Concerti, all the papers I wrote in college, a ton of post-it notes, and a pair of bright blue high heels, among other things.

On to the car...another entry may follow!

P.S. I adore my family! So nice to see them again! And to all y'all south of the border, hope you had a good holiday-I miss you!