What's In the Box?

It all began one hot summer during high school. Together with two of my friends, we decided to write each other letters, as a way of keeping in touch during the vacation. Apart from the usual text messaging and telephone calls, of course. Letters were something I’ve always fancied. I am a sucker for colorful packaging, so any bright and multicolored stationery call out to me.

So there I was, writing letters for my dear friends, telling them stories that made me laugh and cry. They were not just simple letters stuffed into envelopes. Crammed into those small colorful envelopes are the joy and sorrow of our friendship, and the slightest touch of affection that kept our friendship from going flat. Those letters relieved us of our longing to see each other again, and jogged our memories that we maybe separated by miles, but our hearts cannot be bothered by any distance.

For once or twice a week I welcome the mailman with a hearty smile, happy to be given my letters. After reading them several times over, I keep them carefully in a decorated shoebox. It was a self-made repository of my treasured letters. And through the years the letters grew in number. My shoebox contains not only letters from friends, but from my family too, and from the man I love. On folded pieces of paper are soothing words of ‘Thank you!’ and ‘I’m here for you’, and a whole lot of ‘I love you!’. Once in a while, I get my shoebox from the shelf and read my letters. They are something I can always touch, read, and rely on when my life becomes difficult, reminders of the wonderful people I have in my life. My blessings. Inside that decorated shoebox are love and comfort that I can always believe in, even when I am alone. As of now, I could no longer put down the cover of the shoebox properly. They were many, but they will never be enough. I would never want to stop receiving letters, for in each of them are pieces of my heart, and each have contributed to the woman I’ve become. Gifts of great beauty and value are nothing compared to a humble, decorated shoebox filled with joy and love. It’s something that cannot be bought, and a loyal memento that the best things in life are free (minus the postage stamp cost, that is!). And sometimes, they come in folded papers of all shapes and sizes.

I decorated another shoebox for keepsakes of all sorts- from bracelets to candy wrappers. You maybe are wondering why I keep all these ‘trash’. But never for a moment did I consider them as trash. They are pieces of me too, in their sticky and cluttered form. :)