Day 3: The Things We Keep

I woke up this morning to the news of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. As the story unfolded, it his closer to home with the evacuation of the Hawaiian and West Coast. It got me thinking about what I would take if the police came knocking at my door in the middle of the night, giving me 3o minutes to pack and leave my home, quite possible never to see it again.

Bear in mind, this list does not include the big suitcase filled with clothes and a good pair of boots. This is the "Essential Essence of Nikki" list. I'm probably going to keep revising the list as the day and weeks go by. But I think this is good starting poin

1. The "Important Papers File" which includes the birth certificates, social security cards, wedding license, etc.

2. The Christmas ornaments. My husband says our Christmas tree has turned into the family charm bracelet with the ornaments representing those things, people, places, and moments that make us a family.

3. My knitting bag and as much yarn as practical (especially the cottons and good wools)

4. The First Aid kit and the Medicine Box from the hall closet

5. My jewelry box (dumped into a pillowcase...it's just easier)

6. The emergency bottled water supply

7. My clarinet (Sure, I haven't played it in a while, but it's been with me forever and I can't imagine not having it)

8. A box of garbage bags

9. My sewing kit and some scrap fabric

And finally...

10. My son's baby feet that hang on the refrigerator

I keep telling myself that I'm going to get them framed one day. But we've been in the house almost ten years and they're still hanging on the fridge. The fact of the matter is that I like them on the fridge. The fridge has always been a place of honor for me. Report cards hang there, newspaper clippings, permission slips, emergency phone numbers, photographs. In my house, anything of any real importance, that absolutely can not be forgotten, that needs to be acknowledged hangs on the fridge.

So if I had to start all over again, I would hang his baby feet on the fridge (I still can't believe all that has been since that remarkable day in March), put one foot in front of the other, and try to keep moving forward.