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Mary Ann Kirby<br />
In light of the recent flooding in Houston and wildfires in California,<br />
where people were literally forced from their homes with only what<br />
they could carry, and no time to spare, I considered the daunting task<br />
of having to decide, what does one take in that situation knowing<br />
that a complete loss was imminent? What is that one thing you<br />
couldn’t leave behind?<br />
Asked that question in two different decades and my answer might<br />
be drastically different.<br />
In my 20s, I would have been most concerned with my shoes and<br />
clothes. My purse collection, makeup, and favorite leather bomber<br />
jacket with fur trim would have all made the list, too. To this twentysomething<br />
year old, “stuff” was important.<br />
At fifty, my priorities have dramatically shifted. But when faced<br />
with the question about choosing what to take, I still can’t come up<br />
with a definitive answer.<br />
It’s a given that people and animals come first, so we’re going to<br />
assume that my family and dog are safely evacuated in our little pretend<br />
scenario. We’re also going to assume that we all have our phones,<br />
laptops, purses and wallets, driver’s licenses, and important documents<br />
and papers.<br />
But now comes the tough part. What non-essentials do you take?<br />
What is that one thing that you absolutely would not want to part with?<br />
I recently posed this question on social media and the responses<br />
were varied . . . and fascinating. Many of them were, understandably,<br />
about precious family photos – boxes of pictures and photo albums<br />
that have been curated, inherited, or passed along from one generation<br />
to the next, which could never be recreated. Ironically, it has been<br />
during my lifetime that many people have actually stopped printing<br />
pictures. I pause for a moment and wonder how future generations<br />
will remember us without printed evidence of our existence.<br />
Bibles ranked as a top item along with jewelry, treasured artwork,<br />
children’s blankets and hand-made family quilts. Guns and ammunition<br />
were surprisingly important to many, as well. I’d never considered the<br />
need for weapons in an evacuation-type situation, but anyone that’s<br />
ever misplaced a child’s cherished binky knows that it is worthy of<br />
being heavily guarded.<br />
So as I continued to contemplate the question at hand, my inability<br />
to easily identify what “things” I would take was becoming a source of<br />
frustration for me. I began to realize that I’m not particularly attached<br />
to anything! And don’t get me wrong, I have a safe-box and fully<br />
understand the importance of protecting certain legal documents, but<br />
it was very revealing to me that not one material possession in particular<br />
stood out as being of paramount significance.<br />
Things don’t wear matching pajamas on Christmas Eve and watch<br />
Christmas movies seen so many times that every line can practically<br />
be quoted by heart. Things didn’t cheer on our favorite kicker on the<br />
football field or feel the excitement of watching him make his first-ever<br />
field goal.<br />
Things can’t get all dressed up and take you to dinner on your<br />
birthday or celebrate when you achieve an important milestone.<br />
Things can’t reassure you when someone’s hurt your feelings.<br />
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that my most<br />
prized possessions are my memories–of the life experiences and<br />
adventures shared with the people I adore most–and no box or album is<br />
big enough to contain them. They’re the people and places and feelings<br />
and moments. They’re the hugs and the smiles. And the laughter.<br />
It’s not about what we’ve bought, but what we’ve built–and no<br />
fire or flood can destroy it. And it is in that moment, the moment<br />
I was forced to articulate what it was that I actually treasured most,<br />
that I had a breakthrough and it was an amazing feeling.<br />
While it is not likely that my son can tell me a single thing he<br />
received last year for Christmas without having to really stop and think<br />
about it–he can sing every word to the family vacation song we made<br />
up while driving through the mountains six years ago. We hiked to a<br />
waterfall hidden deep in the elevations and got caught in a rainstorm<br />
on our way out. It was freezing and we were soaked to the bone . . . yet<br />
it will go down as one of the single greatest family experiences that we<br />
ever had. We were with each other, where we’re truly the most happy,<br />
and we wouldn’t have changed a thing.<br />
Experiences make for the greatest treasures. And memories.<br />
So while this exercise has come full circle and prompted some<br />
much-needed soul-searching on my part, I come away with a single,<br />
glorious realization. When the waters rise, and the flames grow near,<br />
I’m already packed. And while I’d never want to be faced with having<br />
to part with the material things that have played such an important<br />
role in creating our comforts of home and have helped to define our past,<br />
I know that as long as we have each other, everything will be alright. n<br />
Hometown madison • 55