what to ask me when i'm old (or after we're done moving)

Storyteller genius, Donald Davis, says not to ask old people what they remember about their childhoods.

Instead, he says you should ask about their childhood home. Or their third grade classroom. Or the hard church pew they sat on every Sunday. In other words, if you want to retrieve a memory, access the location where it's stored. Open the door and go inside the space where it happened.

Since we've been married, we've gathered a whole collection of spaces.

And here we go again. Arizona. For a good job. To the place we will be when we make that final student loan payment before the end of the year. I will experience that victory in a sunny spot on the globe.

You wouldn't know it from all our gypsying, but we really hate moving. We had a sweet babysitting swap with some friends in the neighborhood. My sweetie girl has a crush on one of the boys in nursery. When we first boxed up my books last week, I cried.

And maybe I'm making too much of this, but I've been thinking about how we simultaneously live in the spaces by which we access those memories later. By leaving that space, we have to accept that another chapter in our lives has closed—those moments are now memories, and not the present. Time keeps moving and so do we. 

I know which memories happened in this familiar space, but I haven't yet seen which ones happen in the new one. We always seem to fall in love where we're living, though, so I'm hopeful and excited. Each move, we're just as reluctant to leave as the last.

So here's to fabulous memories in new spaces. And here are some of my favorite images of the one we've just left—where things have been so happy, sometimes hard, and altogether wonderful. If some young whippersnapper ever asks me about that basement apartment I lived in down the street from the bakery, I'll say it was one of my favorites.





 






8 comments:

candice darling said...

LOVE your photos here. And LOVE your writing. Please update this space so we can hear all about your adventures.
<3!

Sanz said...

Great post! So does this mean you're already on your way? I think moving when children are involved is a completely different experience. Moving before I was married and had children was an adventure. Moving with a family is heartbreaking. You see them leave friends. People they've bonded with and spent so much time with and they will likely never see each other again. (Or at least remember each other.) When you leave a space, you leave the space where your baby came home to. The space your baby took her first steps and said her first words. The spaces take on a whole new meaning when children are involved! Good luck. I love you!

Unknown said...

Where are you moving? Do you have a place yet? I can help if you have any questions.

Adrienne said...

Beautiful. As usual. I look forward to reading about your Arizona adventures.

kathy w. said...

Candice, thanks! I just sent you an email about a gift I didn't have time to deliver before we left (but you'll still get anyway).

The Mrs. I totally agree. I thought she'd be young enough that moving wouldn't matter. But it did. She's finally taking her first solid nap of this week right now.

Abbie, thank you! We have a place already, but no familiar faces yet. Are you guys in Phoenix?

Adrienne, there will be many more to come, I'm sure.

janel said...

No! Don't move...for so many reasons, including the fact that I still have your tupperware! Okay, fine. I can mail it. Please tell me your address!
I love those pictures of Claire. And especially Provo According to Claire.

Deja said...

Wow, you're already gone? That was mighty fast. I hope you're settling in nicely. And I keep thinking about Utah as your novel's setting, and thinking that maybe leaving it will solidify and help it write itself into Utah even more deeply. I wish you many long Arizona afternoons to find out.

Bryson and Tara said...

I love the way you write, Kath! I hope things are going well for you all down south. Can't wait to hear about your latest adventure.

Oh, and that last pic of Claire on the potty... How cute is that?!