Day 35: Totes

Today my wife and I were re-organizing our basement by adding shelves. We were stacking boxes here, putting totes there (Tracy has a thing for totes) and I ran across two totes that I forgot about. These are totes that are dedicated to our kids. In 2008 we had a 9 month old boy move in with us and four months later his biological sister was born, we brought her home right from the hospital. We adopted our two children. Today James is 2 years old and Emma is one. One important thing we have done is set two totes aside. In these totes we place things that they will find memorable as they grow older.

In James’ bin we have the clothes he wore to our house the day he was delivered to us. He also has gifts he received from his biological parents and relatives. The same goes for Emma, she has many things in her bin as well. This collection will grow through the years and when they turn 18 they will receive these totes to own. As they look through these items it will help them look to remember their past, where they came from and where they are going.

It is very important that in our own lives we have totes. Be it a mental tote that we keep in the backs of our minds or a file in our desk that helps define who we are today. In my mind I have very sharp recollection of things that I have experienced in life. Many times I have heard “wow, you have a good memory. You remember things others have forgotten about.” In my desk I have a file entitled, “momentos.” This file contains articles that written about me in different magazines, notes both good and bad from people throughout my life, and even letters I got from a board where I served that “tried” to set me in my place. These are all things that have shaped me who I am today.

It is important we don’t forget where we have come from. This is important so we learn from the good and bad and go forward with purpose truly knowing who we are defined by the good and bad in our lives.