Boxing up the Bells

 

The day my mom found out she was pregnant with me happened to be the same day as my oldest sister’s senior trip to Washington D.C. Lori purchased a souvenir bell while on that trip, and when she got home and heard the news that she was going to be a big sister, she grabbed the souvenir bell and ran around the house ringing it. And that is how my bell collection began.

            Over the years of my childhood, people gifted me bells for special occasions. My grandparents almost always brought me a bell from their travels around the country. And sometimes bells just showed up in the collection – and I have no real idea how they got there.

            When I moved out of Mom and Dad’s house after graduating from college, I boxed up that bell collection. Twenty-four years later, the bell collection was still in that same box. Every bell was nestled in yellowed quarter-century-old newspaper and had successfully survived bouncing around inside five moving trucks.

            This summer, as we reorganized all our storage, I pulled out that box and put it aside to look through when I had time. Yesterday I finally made time. I pulled the not-so-sticky-anymore tape off the box and unwrapped each bell.

            I had shockingly few memories of these pieces that comprised a collection. There was never any sort of documentation to show what came from where, so it was up to my memory to recall. I recognized most of them, but I had no idea where 95% of them came from. Were they gifts? Souvenirs from my own family vacation travels? No idea.

            We don’t have room to display them in this home, and for the most part, I have no connection to these bells. I know a scenario like this one creates a lot of consternation for some people. How do you let go of something that once meant something significant to you and told a part of your story? Should you keep something that no longer holds the same significance? Is it wrong to let it go?

            Here’s what I did.

            I unwrapped every single bell and took a “good” picture of it. I staged each photo in a spot with good lighting and used the big camera to take the pictures.

            I had 86 bells, and I decided to keep 4 of them. Here are the ones I kept:

            The original bell stayed. The story behind it is meaningful to me because of its connection to the news of my arrival. It’s a replica of the Liberty Bell, so it doesn’t necessarily match the aesthetic of our home, but I kept it because it matters (deeply) to my life story.

            I found a cute little bell that is a Christmas mouse in his jammies. My friend Amber (the artist!) is creating a series of original Christmas art that features little mice. She sends them out as her Christmas card each year, and I am collecting each one as she releases them. My plan is to frame them to make a vignette in our home, and this little bell will make a nice 3D touch to that vignette.

            There is a school bell that was always my favorite, because I wanted to be a teacher, and I dreamed about it being the recess bell. (They probably don’t even use bells at recess now, but they did when I was little!) It actually does fit the look of our house, and I already know where I plan to put it!

            The last one I kept was a frivolous choice, but it’s an upside-down ice cream cone. It’s cute, I love ice cream, and I decided it was too fun to part with.

            So those four bells stayed, and I boxed up the rest to donate.

            I’ll take my pictures and put them in a little photo book to print. That way I will always have memories of this collection that is part of my life story, but I won’t have to dust and display 86 bells all the time.

            My memories are preserved and so is my sanity.

            How about you? Do you have anything that you aren’t sure you want to keep – but you also can’t be sure you’re ready to let it go? This might be a good solution for you!