In the Box
“Kate rolled the paper and tied the ribbon around it and put it in the box and closed the lid.”
East of Eden, John Steinbeck
Inspiration
My family history includes a predilection for collecting. For some of us the tendency often veers into hoarding. Like a beacon I can see the disease shining on my collection of cookbooks and cake plates. And baking pans. I still have my button, ribbon and lace collections. One of my brothers who hoards without shame brought me a box stuffed with papers and a few rusted and bent enamel ware cups. I added the cups to my growing stash of enamel ware and wondered what to do with the stack of papers. Although my brother can read, he struggles. His Dyslexia has a more powerful grip than mine. It never occurred to my parents that we all had learning disabilities. We just needed more discipline and better study habits. The schools we attended didn’t notice either. I learned to work with it. My spelling and pronunciation is memorized. My brain doesn’t understand phonics. Although spellcheck is phenomenal sometimes it has no idea what word I want.
