Sunday, March 30, 2008

So I'm a little left of center ...



Today's BLOG title is brought to you by a song by one of my favorite artists - Michelle Branch (You Get Me).

SO

I came to my blog tonight to tell you about a book by Scott Bushnell - Historic Photos of Fort Wayne. I was a bit overwhelmed in where to begin. So before I go there...

Let me just lay it out here.

I admit to not being understood (generically).

Many people don't "get" why I have such love for my childhood city and they are baffled by my fascination with history. I'll offer some insight which may or may not help.



History didn't mean anything to me until I was 18 years old. That's when every single possession of mine - photographs, baby book, baby booties, dance outfits, class pictures, drawings, toys, letters - was lost in a fire.

In particular, I had one special box (I put it together right after my parents divorced) that stayed with me from the age of 12 up until the time that house burnt to the ground.
























That box was a snapshot of my life - it had things in there that reminded me of who I was. It may sound silly, but that damn box grounded me whenever I felt like I couldn't take another set back in life. Everytime it was "time" to pack up and move yet again, I just looked at my anchor and reminded myself that tomorrow would be a better day.

So after this fire happened, I started looking at many things much differently. Kind of a layered approach. Didn't mean to - not on purpose...it just happened. People and places and things had multiple meanings to me.



When I see photographs of people, places, things (mostly that I have some familiarity with) - I'm generally emotional.

I don't breakdown (gawd no!), but I absolutely feel....and the feel is internal. There's an acknowledgment (in my heart and in my head) of sorts - sometimes a learning...sometimes an appreciation....it's hard to fully explain so I'll just stop right there.

Yeah. I know. I'm weird. But remember, when I talk about Scott's book in another post, I'm a FREAK for a reason :).

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