The Box

Chapter 1

I hate moving. The disruption to your life, the packing, unpacking, broken or damaged items, the inability to locate items. It always frustrates me. So why you ask do I move so often? Good question.

It is one I am not sure I really have the answer to. Maybe it has to do with wanting more. I’d buy a house or a condo, change what I wanted in it, live in it for a year or two then become bored and sell it. Was that a bad thing? I never thought so until…….well, until I met her.

“Babe, can you come here please?”

I heard the all too familiar voice call out to me. But, the question was, where exactly was she? Unable to locate her right away I called out to her “where are you?”

The response, “I’m in the storage room.”

I make my way over. I see her standing in the middle of the room, hands on her hips looking somewhat exasperated. She has that look…..I know that look, something is very wrong.

“You called?”

“I can’t find it.” Comes her reply.

Hmmm……….. ‘it’ that is such a broad term don’t you think? That could mean so many things. I wait for her to continue.

“I know I packed it, I know I saw it the day we moved in, but now I can’t find it.”

She was now becoming quite panicky. Walking over to her I ask “what is it that you can not locate?”

“The box.”

I look around. We are surrounded by boxes.

Sheepishly I state “OK……….”

She suddenly realizes what she said as she too looks around at all the boxes surrounding us. Now looking at me, she is near tears. “What if we lost it?”

So now I am thinking to myself that I must be completely clueless because I still have no idea what she is talking about. I wrap my arms around her and softly ask “which box in particular are you trying to locate?”

With sadness written all over her face she replies “the ornament box.”

Suddenly it all makes sense, and I understand why she is so perplexed. This isn’t just any box, it is “the” box, one filled with memories…..very special memories……irreplaceable memories.

You see, these are not just Christmas ornaments; they are pieces of our history together. Items collected over the years on our travels around the globe.

Now remember it is ‘me’ we are talking about, and at times I can be a little self –absorbed and clueless. So I ask my next question, clearly before really thinking it through.

“Why are you looking for it now? It isn’t Christmas yet.” I respond.

The look I get in response tells me immediately that I am now in a lot of trouble. “Not Christmas yet? Are you serious? Do you have any idea what day it is?”

Clearly I do not, and it is now apparent to her that I am indeed quite clueless.

Exasperated she responds, “Bette, it’s December 15th. There are only ten days until Christmas and we are running out of time.”

With this statement she is clearly upset and quickly walks out of the room. I stand staring at the doorway she just walked through. I look around me…….I need to locate that damn box……. and fast.