Tomorrow I’m heading to Warsaw. I’m spending two nights with
Mom at grandmother’s house. I’m taking a laptop computer and a scanner so that
I can start to record and preserve some of the billions of pieces of ancient
paper and photographs tucked away in drawers and closets all over the house. As
far as I know, this is the first time anyone will have slept in her house since
she passed away almost 3 months ago. It’s going to be strange, no doubt – tediously
going through photos and memories that crumble as you touch them.
My plan of attack is simple – take your time and start with
the easy things. For this first trip, I’m hoping to capture her recipes. I plan
to take my time and be very careful. When finished, I hope that family members
and others will be able to access the recipes, and eventually all of the photos,
articles, postcards, greeting cards, documents, etc. I plan to post many of the
most interesting finds on this blog. The rest I will store on my computer (and
a backup) until I get the chance to burn discs for uncle and cousins.
Hopefully, everyone will be able to study and enjoy the memorabilia, wherever
they are.
If grandmother taught me anything, it was the importance of
remembering where you came from. She kept things to remind herself, but also to
pass down to future generations so that they could remember as well. Her memory
was long, and I hope to keep it going by undertaking this project.
It’s been three years since I spent the night at grandmother’s
house. I spoke with her almost every week on the phone, but for years my in-person
visits usually lasted for less than three hours. Still, I moved around so much
growing up, but grandmother’s house was always there as a touchstone. When I
look back through my past to find a place to call home, it’s grandmother’s
house. Raleigh is my hometown. Silver Spring is where I live. E. Hill St. is
home.
So, as I pack my bags and get ready to head home for the
first time in a long time, I remind myself that this desire in me to save her
memories stems from the appreciation of history that she instilled in me as I
grew up. I’ve tried to write something more poetic about her, but it all comes
out sounding flat and insincere. I think the best I can do is to try and
preserve her legacy in letters and photos.
There’s no Internet at the house, so I won’t be able to post
anything until after I return next week. Then, I hope I can count on you to
comment on photos and other things you see posted on this blog. I know many of
the photographs will be of people who were known by our generation, so any help
in identifying them would be greatly appreciated.
That’s all for now, wish me luck!
(PS – in case you don’t know, my eyesight isn’t that great
and I’m using assistive technology to write this blog. Unfortunately, this
means that occasionally I miss typos. Actually, not really occasionally, more
like all – the – time. For this reason, writing takes me a lot longer than it
does most people. If I spent the time needed to make sure there were absolutely
no typos it would take away from time I could use expressing myself. Hope you
don’t mind, and enjoyed the occasional humorous results :-)
