In the dusty box

There are some things I thought I would never forget in the dusty box on the top shelf of my cupboard.  Once those things were what I thought my forever would hold.
I hadn't looked at them for years, there was no need to.  Then an old friend got back in contact and I wanted to show my girls a picture of her and I back then.  Along with a photo album full of photos of a much younger, slimmer, more carefree me, there were some letters.
Some from my oldest friend.  They made me laugh out loud, some days I wish for those carefree days, they were good.
Some from a person I thought was an important part of my future.  He wasn't.  He isn't.  But I look back on those days and smile.  And kick myself too.  I was so sure I knew what was best back then.  The ego of youth I guess.  The joy of being sure that you knew what you wanted.  It is very funny to see that I am so far away in kilometres and reality from where I thought at 19 I would be.
Some from a friend I thought would be there for the long term and then wasn't.  Distance did make a difference.  

And the photos...back when the West Coast Eagles were the only Perth team (and they won :) ) when my sisters were still children, when things were just simple.  When the East Coast of Australia was like a different world. 

And as my house shakes from the noise of two girls who have no idea how to talk in inside voices, and my body shows the wear and tear of being a mum, I sometimes like to remember how far I have come from those memories and moments caught inside the dusty old box.

Loud

I'm pretty certain I have never been described as quiet.  Well unless you don't know me.  But how I wish for peaceful days sometimes.

My children have rewritten the definition of noisy this school holidays.  They yell...even when they are standing next to each other.  They talk...and talk...and talk...They just don't stop.  And I am grateful for the noise mostly..the only thing worse would be silence...but I wish they at least had volume control :)