A box

As I opened up the box the smells inside drifted slowly into my nostrils.
As it hit the brain, I was instantly taken back by the flood of memories it brought on.
The smell was sweet, not over powering, reminding me of  better days.
I smiled as I took a deeper breath.
I looked up and softly called to Mark.
He look at me a little alarmed as I said.
It's your Mom.
What?
Smell this, it's your Mom, it smells like summer, spring, her softness and the hint of lotion she always wore.
I handed the box to him and he buried his nose in.
He took in the smells and smiled.
Yep, it is.

We had spent all day cleaning out our basement office from the years of our own paper work.  We had been tossing, shredding and deciding what should be kept when I found a box that we had brought home last fall from the house in Virginia.
It was a bit of Louise in a box.
It has made me think for days about our lives in boxes. The things we keep, why we keep them and what needs to be done with them.
I enjoyed finding some of her there with me.
I also found parts of my sister Lee, cards, letters written during better days and better time.
I smiled and took them into me as if to feed a part of me that had been lost.

A box, can it be that simple?
That when it is all said and done we are just a passing memory in the boxes of life?
Breathe deep and take it all in.
M