The mountain of items in my mom’s bedroom seemed insurmountable. We knew it would take time to go through everything. We have started going through each box and bag – piece by piece to determine if we are going to keep it, give it away, or throw it away. It is overwhelming and hard yet it is also a great trip down memory lane.

Today, I found this old box of shoe polish and as I gently threw it in the trash bag the tears started to slowly roll down my cheek. Oh how mom used to always polish our white shoes. She wanted to make sure they were spotless when we went out and that we were always presentable. She would buy shoe polish and get so irritated when she was out and didn’t have it. I don’t think she used it as much in the most recent years, but when we were growing up – it was the thing.

This shoe polish is more than just the white coverup that went over our white shoes. It represents the many little things my mom loved or that us girls were connected to of hers – like the travel toothbrush we found; the many crafts she made; the nail files; the seashells; the decorations; the pictures; the beanie babies; the nail polish; and more.

Today, I decided to savor the memories – the little things – that made mom who she was. She was close and in our hearts today (and probably irritated with us for throwing things away). Love you mom. Forever you are with us.