Nana

The kinds of things Mom saved

Do you remember the film "The Year of Living Dangerously"? Linda Hunt portrayed Billy Kwan, a photographer and journalist who maintained detailed files on friends. After watching that movie in the 1980s, I began files on my friends.

Photo by Laika Notebooks on Unsplash

My mother maintained files for the family boat business, organized by boat type, including surveys and Polaroid pictures. At home, she had another filing cabinet filled with files about family and friends and her dance and theater activities. The files on her friends contained magazine articles or newspaper clippings about them or their spouses. Perhaps there was a letter or a snapshot of her with them, or an obituary for a spouse or child. She also had letters and information on her uncles and aunts. Being the oldest girl in a family of boys, she majored in English Literature, which means she valued a good story. Her archivist heart instructed her to save items that, I guess, she wanted a few more eyes to see before the recycle bin!

I don't keep files like Mom, but my address book is bulging with friends, family, and co-workers worldwide!

News Flash: I have inherited Mom's files and am currently deciding what to do with the contents! (Please advise.) Here's a document I found in a file belonging to her mother. I thought this list was worth sharing.

“Things I Am Proud Of ”

-My driver’s license

-Being a blood donor tho terrified

-My D.B E card signed by “Alice”

-Duchess of Gloucester -England

-My Rose’s Curl -1949

-Letter from Bill’s Army Chaplain -”44

-Picture of two special girls

-Xmas Cards -1969

I don’t know the backstory of this list, and I’m unsure of Nana’s age when she wrote it. Mom must have asked her mother to write down what she was proud of. Or maybe it was an assignment at church. There is something poignant about seeing her list.

My grandmother became a widow while Mom was in college, which forced her to develop independence later in life. This occurred in the late 1950s, when many women were also discovering how to assert their independence.

What would be on your list?