Ever since my last memory box post in 2013, I’ve wanted to show you the other memory boxes I have. When I started them I didn’t think through the ages too well before writing them on the boxes so I’ve been stuck with 0-9, 10-14, 15-17 and 18-24. The next one will be 25-30 which is quite scary. It’s strange to think how much happens in a section of your life, especially when you organise it the way I do.

The A3 grey cloth archival quality memory boxes (wow that was a mouthful) I use are from both Officeworks and Kikki.k. They were the exact same quality with a difference in price and a different paper pattern on the inside. I’ve been extremely happy with the boxes and would not recommend any other kind to store your memorabilia in.

What’s in my memory box:

1. Knick-knacks my mum collected from when she was pregnant with me and just after I was born (hospital bracelets, cards, newspaper clippings, etc).
2. A NSW Waratah’s jersey and two hats I used to wear constantly.
3. A couple of story books I made in grades 1-3.
4. My “star of the week” poster
5. A calendar
   
6. A selection of my favourite childhood books: Erin’s Voyage, Teddy’s Forest Friends, Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarden, My Special Christmas Adventure (a gift from my Nan & Pop).
7. A joke book that was made for my dad when he was in the hospital and my dad’s business card book.
8. A nameplate my mum made that used to be on my bedroom door, a tooth fairy pillow, bracelet that I got for my christening, a pin that was a gift when I was born, spoon, Minnie Mouse watch.
9. Family photos in both 4×6 and photobook format.
10. Various trophies, medals and awards (this is the only portion of my life that I really got these in!)

I don’t remember a lot of things from my childhood but I do remember getting my picture taken to be ‘Star of the Week‘. It was quite the honour and I always wanted to be a part of it but I remember even back then being nervous about the way I look in the photo. Looking back on it now as a 24 year old, I think I look gorgeous, but at the time I remember seeing it and not being too impressed.

On the right is the pre-school picture calendar we gave to my Nan and Pop at the beginning of 1996. That calendar stayed on the fridge until the day Nan passed away. You could always see it from the outside of the house as the side of the fridge was what you could see at the end of the hallway from the front door.

In 2014 I created a few books with Artifact Uprising (you can see my Sydney book + review here) which included a book of childhood photos just of me, and a book of childhood photos of my brother and I. Honestly the quality of these wasn’t too great – I don’t think scanned 4×6 photos make for the best book so in future I would probably take photos of the photos with my DSLR, but it’s still nice to have and my mum loved them too.

Some of my favourite books are included. We went through a stage where we donated lots of books but I couldn’t part with these.

1. Erin’s Voyage – I remember this book
   always scared me. I didn’t like the idea of being alone in the dark on a
   boat.
2. Teddy’s Midwinter Birthday Party – This was a series of
   books I loved as a kid. It was so magical and dreamy and the stories were
   always quite sweet.
3. Rose meets Mr. Wintergarten – This book is clearly
   based on How To Kill A Mockingbird
   as Mr. Wintergarten as a total Boo Radley vibe. This book also used to
   scare me a bit but it also created a long-lasting family memory. We went
   to Melbourne to visit old family friends when I was about 6 or 7 and when
   we got there the first thing I said was “Melbourne is cold, wet and uninviting” which was taken
   straight from the book.
4. My Special Christmas Adventure – Nan and Pop gave me this
   book when I was a child. I always loved it and looked forward to reading
   it each year. I definitely will get one for my kids in the future.

This is quite self explanatory, but I absolutely love seeing my little handprints. When I first found this I put my hand as it is now on top and it completely covered it. It’s been 19 years…. time goes so fast.

Every Saturday night my Dad and I would go to the football and I would wear this jersey and get it signed by the players. Being a shy introvert I found it really difficult but my dad supported, encouraged, and nudged me perfectly to get me to go up to the players. I was almost always the only little girl there so I stood out. The jersey has a massive stain on the front now and has for years but I’m too scared to wash it in case all the signatures bleed. I wore the hats all the time but haven’t worn them since I was about 10.

If you haven’t read about my Dad’s story before, you can do so here. When my Dad was in the hospital kids at my school wrote him cards, letters, and created a joke book to try to cheer him up. The jokes are awful but it was such a sweet gesture. I remember everyone at Clovelly Primary School being really supportive – my dad was a student there himself in the 1960s-1970s. The business card book is full of clients, potential clients and subcontractor numbers that Dad used for his business. I’m honestly not sure why we still have it – I bet the majority of numbers don’t work anymore.

All of these knick knacks are kept in a plastic pocket. They are mostly cards that my parents received when I was born but it also includes the pregnancy test, my umbilical cord clamp, hospital bracelets, and a newspaper clipping from the day I was born.

Name plate that my mum made. It’s been with us for years. The tooth fairy pillow still has the glitter in it. A bracelet and pin that I got for my christening from my Godmother. The spoon is completely random – I am not sure if it was mine or my dad’s. The watch is a Minnie Mouse watch and the face glowed in the dark, but it doesn’t work anymore.

My story books that I made were pretty terrible when I was little, but they are sweet to look back on.

I love seeing the old photos and drawings from that time. I’ve got to say – my writing for 1st grade isn’t too terrible. I found my dad’s old English book not too long ago and his was much worse.

I have a really small selection of photos in my memory box as most of our photos are kept in albums, but I also keep a photo box album of just my school years. I really love having just these photos of my perfect family at that time, along with a photo of mum & dad (top right) from before we were born.

Apparently I have always loved rainbows. Probably because they are so easy to draw and they have such pretty colours.

This is my storywriting book from the first grade. Some of the best lines are “my mum mouse” and “my brother’s friend has two chickens“.

I was never a kid who got any gold medals, but I did get a lot of participation medals. All of the medals are for participating in Nippers (a beach swimming club for little ones) except for the third one along which is for “class service”. Only a few kids in the school got these so I was pretty happy with myself at the time.

That’s everything! I love going through my memory boxes – each one is different and has a completely different vibe. This was the happiest time in my life and the most simple – obviously there were some dark moments but the rest of it was as perfect as you could get.

Lately I’ve been trying to clean up and organise my room and all my school documents which lead me to find these treasures! I took a crappy disposable camera to camp in grade 6 and I’m so glad I did. Yeah, they’re not the best pictures but it’s just fun to have memories from a time you’d completely forgotten about.

I absolutely love this picture. On the left is probably my best primary school friend, May. We used to hang out quite often.

Alice, Chloe, Ellie

Mr. Hill – my grade 6 teacher.

Tyson – my primary school crush lmao. I remember my goal on the trip being to get a photo of him.

Ellie – she was on my netball team & her dad was the coach.

Honestly cannot remember this girl’s name!

Alice

Me in a super cool visor. Obviously the lighting was really good.

The gang jumping into a three metre deep pool! I remember doing it and freaking out!

It’s so funny that I found these photos when cleaning – I barely remembered any of the people in the pictures until I saw them!

View more from the Disposable Diary series here.

Fourteen years ago my dad died. He died on the 7th of March 2000 and the funeral was on the 14th of March. It’s so odd but this is the first year it hasn’t hurt. It’s the first year I’ve really noticed the pain not being so crippling and hurting so bad.

Dad before I was born…

Over the last 12 months I’ve spent a lot of time learning and talking about him and I truly think that is what has helped the pain go away. I honestly thought the pain would be unbearable forever, that the ache would always be there and I suppose it will be, but it will not always hurt as bad as it did. My heart was shattered, battered and bruised, it was beyond repair and I let it stay that way until a couple of years ago when I started to piece it back together. At the moment it’s still a little purple from the bruises but now you can see the healthy red layer beneath the purple one. It’s so freeing to finally feel like a fourteen year long grieving period is coming to an end.

I feel motivated and ready to start the next chapter of my life. My mind is flooded with goals and visions of who I will be and it really is time to take steps to make it a reality. I’m so fortunate and have a lot of things going for me and I’m ready to take advantage of them and use whatever I’ve got to get to the places I want to go. I’ve officially decided to see through my job until the end of the year and then I’m moving to Sydney; finally committing to leaving. Sydney is the current goal. The long term goal is love and kids which hopefully will come long with Sydney.