After our fun visit to Bloomington, we headed south on that familiar stretch of I-65. We pulled into Nashville early Monday evening. Before we made it to my parent's house, we saw extensive flooding in the downtown area. I had never seen such a thing.
So of course hearing all these stories about families losing their entire homes, we were very lucky in comparison. But it still felt like our own little disaster in my parent's basement. It had already been pumped once Pat and I arrived - we helped lug items upstairs and outside to air out and dry. As you know, a basement is a handy spot to store a cooler or a suitcase for occasional use. It is also home to many a forgotten item - old records, letters, trophys, books, electronics, etc. It really was a blast from the past seeing everything. I was most excited to see pictures of my parents when they were younger (see Dad in photo!). Being an avid scrapbooker, I was also saddened to see the photos in their damaged state.
Pat and I learned some things about my relatives and I definitely felt a gush of love for all of them. I saw letter after letter my Papa wrote my Dad - he sent them each week. I learned my Mom kept my hair clippings from my first ever cut.
It was also a lesson to us. Keep those things you really want/need and donate or throw away the stuff you don't. And protect photos. Plastic bins keep water out, at least the good ones do.
All along I thought my parents didn't take pictures of me as a kid...Turns out they did! They were just in the basement. :-P
Last week we all put in a lot of work sorting through items, salvaging photos, and throwing stuff away (or recycling, donating). Pat was a champ! Son-in-law of the year award I say! But I think the job is finally done and my parents have a much cleaner basement. I'm glad we were there to help out.
I'd like to close this post with a beautiful iris from my parent's garden. :)
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