What's Inside the Box?

If my place were burning to the ground and I only had time to grab one thing, I'd grab "the box." I'd wish I could grab all my photos in their bound form, but at least I do have some saved on a thumb drive and I keep that in my nightstand for easy retrieval at 3AM. Those who know me might be surprised to hear that I could care less if all my books, CDs, and videos were reduced to ashes (I suppose my iPod could accessorize "the box;" I could grab it the same time I grab the thumb drive). All my bedding, clothes, computer software, furniture (especially the dinner table) and kitchenware are due for being replaced anyway. But "the box" is me - the real me, the me I am to myself. The me you couldn't get to know by seeing me, talking to me, talking to others about me, or reading everything I've blogged about up to this point. The Box (as you may or may not be able to tell from the picture here), contains things I don't want to but very much could forget: priceless things like some of my earliest drawings, writings, and elementary school awards; flea market items like my favorite children's books, stickers, and toys; absolute junk like torn pages from our family's old encyclopedia set, printouts of my favorite e-mail forwards, and a copy of "People" magazine's "Celebrate the 90s!" special issue. I've always meant to type up a table of contents to place in the front of the box and then brief introductions to go in front of each different thing. This blog seemed like a good way to kill two birds with one stone. Some server somewhere saves all my posts about the box (in case of a fire) plus I get to share the box with more people than could ever physically handle it.