A Gift of Another Time

I will never forget the look we gave each other as we stood outside the door and stared with anticipation at the key. We knew that once we passed through that threshold nothing was going to be the same, and we could hardly wait! Ronnie was old fashion, another reason why I loved him so much. With no hesitation he scooped me up in his arms, unlocked the door and carried me in.

That moment, frozen in time still seems like yesterday but it was more than just a few years ago. We often sat by the fire and talked about how we would update this wonderful family room. The struggle was real, every time we had a nest egg something else would come up. Like every other time we sipped our wine, basked in the glow of the fireplace and dreamed. After a time, I turned to the stack of Christmas cards that had come through-out the week. I typically saved these for our cozy Saturday evenings to share together. As always, our realtor sent that card, always with the $1.00 lottery card. Of course, nothing much ever came from that but it was always the nicest gesture. "Got a penny?" Ronnie asked. Sure, but I will need it back I replied, and we both laughed. I can't describe the look on his face but I knew something had just happened. As he scratched that ticket his entire body came to life with excitement. There it was, it seems our dream at last could now be fulfilled. He jumped with joy as he shouted it over and over...A $20,000 winning lottery ticket.

The former owners were an Italian American family of 6. Three girls and a boy. Pine tongue and groove walls were beautiful but outdated and frankly just not our choice for our dream for this room. We planned far too long and the transformation would now begin. Today, demo day was going to be exciting. Ronnie carefully pulled the boards with the thought of incorporating them somehow as a tribute to the history of this home. As the light began to turn to dark the last few boards were all we had left to pull. Between one of the studs, we started to see what appeared to be writing on the back wall. Touching words from each member of this family about who they were and their love of home and life. We focused the flashlight on the faded memories and pulled more boards with anticipation. As we reached the final board, we saw what appeared to be an arrow pointing between the studs pointing down to the floor. This board was the final and hardest to remove. What could this be we kept saying with excitement? Is this a time capsule of their lives? How wonderful that they would have the forethought and love to leave us this gift from their hearts. Daylight was all but gone. Dust and rubble from our labor clouded the room. The board was stubborn and was not easy to pry off. A loud crack and snap the board broke. This was not going to be easy. Finally, with brut determination, Ronnie freed the board. It was easy to see from the treasures they left that these were younger children. The boy left a steam shovel toy and a Hardy Boys book. The girls drew peace signs and left relics of the 60's. A small charm bracelet bearing charms with special meaning to this child. A barrette with the name Celeste had us wondering what she might look like. Mom and Dad spoke of love and left pictures now giving us a glimpse of their life, not all faded through time. I held the collar for their dog to my heart as I cherished the moments these items brought. Underneath everything, buried in dust appeared to be a notebook. What was this black notebook? Ron picked up the dust-covered binder. Pages were crisp and yellow and so fragile from time. With anticipation and curiosity, we wiped the dust off the book and fastened our light on the pages. As we read, we realized the magnitude of this find. This encapsulation was not just about their lives, struggles, health issues, and highs and lows but a gift from her past...for the life of this home's journey. We read each page and tears would come and go. We felt as if we had touched the soul of this family as we turned each brittle page. Scattered through-out were the love letters of two who united in marriage and life, handwritten recipes for meals that would have filled this home with the sounds of the family at the kitchen table, and Christmas cards from a time gone by. As we came to the end, an end we didn't want to reach, we turned the last page. An envelope sealed with the words..." for you, from all of our hearts". The note inside said...Love me. Love me as I have been loved by this family. Keep me in repair and bring your own memories. Share them as we have with you. To our amazement, they had left the original house plans. Every question we ever had was now answered. This was the final gift and we knew it needed to be cherished

As the weeks passed and the work was finally completed, we grew melancholy. The drywall pieces covered the words from that family, that gift they left. We knew that, before we too buttoned up the walls it was our responsibility to continue the tradition so we wrote our own history to add to theirs. An arrow pointing to the floor was placed behind the final sheet of drywall. As a tear silently rolled from both of our eyes, we placed our time capsule and closed the wall.