A TREASURE TROVE OF MEMORIES ✨️❤️

I made an amazing discovery today - One that made me happy; and also brought tears to my eyes, at the same time. 

Some of my colleagues from work, came home for lunch this afternoon. After stuffing ourselves to capacity, with the delicious food that had so lovingly been prepared; we spent the rest of the afternoon, just sitting around chatting, enjoying the antics of little Parth (the son of one of my colleagues), and browsing through really old photographs. I dug out the oldest photographs of myself, that I could find, because I absolutely love showing off pictures of myself, when I was a little kid.😊

Flipping through those albums, was like going down memory lane, through the annals of time. My colleagues were quite intrigued, to discover the little kid in the pics, and see the way she’d changed and grown. None of them were a part of my existence, at the time those pictures were taken; and so my childhood, was an absolute mystery to them. Turning the pages of those old albums, was like a journey of discovery, into a world that was totally unfamiliar to them.

As my friends left to go back home, I found myself drawn to those photographs yet again. I may have seen them a million times before; and still, there’s something about albums and photographs that keeps drawing you back to them over and over again. 

As I went back to put those albums in place, I discovered, stashed away in that same cupboard; a whole bunch of old cards and letters . I started reading through every single one of them. 

These weren’t birthday or anniversary greetings, that we usually tend to save. Instead they were letters, cards and wishes dating back to March, 1990. Most of them were addressed to my Mum, Dad and Me. What amazed me though, was that upto this day, more than 18 years later; I had never ever laid eyes, on even a single one of those greetings or messages. 

I started going through every single one of them, and each word I read in those letters, was filled with so much of love and concern for me and my family. There were letters from immediate family, cousins, distant relatives, family friends, even casual acquaintances from long ago. 

Some of the letters had come from Goa, Mysore, Canada, Dubai; and some were from people who were close family friends at the time, but who’ve moved to different parts of the world today. 

So many of the letters had references to me as well; and every word in them expressed tremendous concern, for my well-being. A number of them wondered, how I was coping with the totally unexpected situation, that I had found myself in.🤔

As I read page after page and message after message, I realized how much of affection our family and friends had showered on us, through their kind words. I discovered how deeply moved, everyone had been at the time. I realized that the loss, which my family had suffered, had sent shock-waves through the lives of almost every person we knew back then.I was so moved by the words I had read. The empathy and deep emotional connection, was evident in every word.😢

Being a person, who loves corresponding and keeping in touch; for a few moments, I was upset at my mum. She is obviously the one, who has preserved all those letters, for almost two decades; but I was really irritated, that she had kept these from me. I immediately asked her, why she’d never told me about them. 

Later however, as I pondered over the situation, I realised that I was just a 10 year old kid then; and so maybe, she hadn’t felt the need to burden me, with so much of emotion and so many sentimental feelings, at the time. Over the years, she’d probably forgotten that she had never shown me those letters; and they had remained hidden, in a corner of that cupboard, waiting to be discovered by me so many years later.✨️

I’m not 10 anymore. Time has flown; and I wondered to myself, what if I were to sit down and reply to all those letters today? What would I write, and how would all those people respond? Would they even remember what they’d written, almost two decades ago? Most certainly not!!! Maybe, it would seem strange, to suddenly receive a reply to a letter, they had written so many years ago. 

I guess, it’s just something I’m thinking about, that I’ll never really get down to doing; but if I were to reply to all those letters, I think the underlying thought in every single reply would be, “Thank You Aunty, Uncle, Grandparent, Cousin, Friend, Neighbour, Associate, Mum and Dad’s Colleague, Well-Wisher. Thank You for showing that you care. Thank you for the love. Thank you for being there. Thank you for realizing, what we were going through. Thank you for feeling one with us, in our moment of deepest sorrow. Thank you! Thank You! Thank You!"❤️❤️❤️

I doubt any of those people will be reading this post today; but I hope they know, how much joy my latest discovery has brought me. Sure, some of the letters made me cry; but every single one of them was 'Special'; and I will never ever be able to Thank everyone enough, for all that Love.✨️✍️