Old Things

I've long had a fascination of things from the past...things with a history. I can rummage for hours through an antique story, thinking of the stories that lay behind each piece, and the lives that created them. I love to feel old pieces of furniture or read old postcards and then in my mind weaving a tale for those who sat on it's cushions or pushed the lead to paper.

I also love going to used book stores. I go in with little to no agenda on what I am looking for. A spine will catch my eye and I'll briefly glance at its description and decide whether it's a keeper or not. The best part though, is coming home, opening the book and finding a hand written note or notes in the pages. I stare at the curves in their letters, wondering why or how the book came their way.

All in all, I'm fascinated with the idea that there are items out there that have been in the hands of others. They are people I don't know, people who may no longer be here, people that are proof that time will come and go and so will there physical belongings. Their items may have been donated or purchased at an estate sale, they may have loved them or simply never thought twice about the object, and now for some reason their are in my possession.

I wonder if one day my items will be for sale at a thrift store. I wonder if one day some person in the world will open a book they picked up at a book store and see the lines I underlined for their special meaning, quotes they gave me strength when I felt I could no longer go on. I wonder if they will know what those highlighted sentences got me through. Or maybe one day someone will come across a letter from Michael or I, will they read it and feel the love that I feel?

I do not know and I have no notions of what they may bring to others. I just know that the past has proven to overlap into the present. I feel that when I pick up that book or feel the carved wood, I have taken something that used to be forgotten or overlooked and brought it into my present, brought it into my life. The power that book may have had on someone 30 years ago will now become a part of me and that is amazing but also reassuring.

These random items are proof and reinforcement that my past and memories are guides and will continue to be my "antique finds" when times get tough.

There are rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities.
- Mark Twain