Time in a Bottle

                         We've been getting ready for a yard sale.  The garage is ripe.  So much has been collected.  We've cleaned nearly every closet, armoire, Kim's 'basement' under the bed, and drawer.  

                         The only place left?  The 'attic' above the garage where we typically keep only holiday decorations. 

 

                        There was a lot of sports memorabilia mixed in...A 24" talking Michael Jordan from the movie 'Space Jam' (now, if you haven't seen this one, you MUST!!  Even has Bill Murray in it!!), a set of KISS action figures, still intact in package.  A box of Cal Ripken Wheaties. Unopened.  And a Sports Illustrated from 1997 with Miles Simon on the cover, the year that the University of Arizona won the NCAA basketball championship!! 
                        An over sized Gumby that the bambini immediately grabbed and ran to hide somewhere in the house.  A tradition started at Linens 'N Things that my employees there started and shared with my kids.  They loved roaming that store searching for Gumby...and now, they love going there even more, since they turned the building into a Peter Piper Pizza when Linens went out of business.
                       A basket of Kim's jewelry caught Autumn's eye.  Turquoise necklace and bracelet set from Second Mesa, the Navajo Indian reservation up north. Pearl earrings.  A ring made from a spoon that my Dad had created for her....and an Eeyore charm dangling from a sterling silver chain.  I had gotten Kim it in Disney World back in 1989.
                      My 11th grade report card..."DAD!!! You got a lot of C's and D's!!" Autumn squealed (straight A's in typing class, neatly offset straight F's in citizenship).  Mexican style picture frames - punched silver.  I have been looking for new ones to hang in our hallway.  Her college text books and a box of well loved pastels.
                     A bottle of Tanqueray...Kim had given me for our first anniversary of dating...She wrote me a message on the label...There were a bunch of old videos we had taken of Cody and Autumn when they were babies.  They have spent hours watching all of them.  So neat to see them huddled together on my bed (we have an old VHSDVD combo unit Kim had invested in many years ago), laughing, asking questions, and sitting, staring at our past. It is all so surreal...I lived a blessed life!
                     
                      And a tub of photographs....

 

play while you look into the past... 

                                      We must have been about 19 years old or so in this one!!  Once again, Kim appears to be delighted by whatever bs is coming out of my mouth.  She always made me feel like I was the funniest, handsomest, most interesting guy in the room - even though I wasn't!!!

 

We once traveled to a distant country called 'Oklahoma' to visit my sister Sherri. They once had a huge dust storm that caused folks to move away.  I am told they now have a professional basketball team there!  We went to a barbecue place with Sherri, Anthony, me, Natalie and Kim - such a sharp jacket Kim wore!! 

 

    Snow Bunny.  Kim gives all new meaning to this term.  Taught her how to ski at Breckenridge...the mountains were breathtaking....as was Kim.

                                      

                             That smile...so radiant.  A very wee Cajun, just a few months old.  That dress was one of my all time favorites...certainly Old Tucson was a favorite hangout of ours - season ticket holders until it burned down.  When they rebuilt, it was never quite the same...

 

Another photo of Kimmy at Old Tucson...the hint of a smile, arms behind the back, legs lightly crossed, hair over one shoulder...amazing...

 

 

 

 

                 Have no doubts.  Kim was mighty.  Stronger than her delicate beauty portrayed. Here, she out does Rocky, in center city Philly, by decking a fire hydrant near the art museum where Rocky ran up the stairs.  We always raced up the steps...one of the few things I could beat Kimmy at!

 

The south was gripped by a cold front when we moved from PA to AZ.  We didn't get out of the cold until we left NM and got into AZ.  I believe this is in Arkansas, Kim putting on her best redneck for the pic.  We did not eat there, choosing 'Slick Willie's' instead, homage to then president Clinton.  The motto was 'we can tax your food but not your taste buds'.  They lied.  Note the price of gas back then!!!

 

                    Kim, majestic on high, up at Windy Point on Mt Lemmon.  Her trusty dog, Cajun, at her side...


                  And this one, the gem of them all...

 

 

Kim in her 'Footy Pajamas'.  I got them for her for Christmas, '89.  She was so proud of them - she always wanted a pair.  This is New Year's Eve that year.  We'd always find a hotel that had some sort of band or party and get a room there - it was so fun!!  Again, I am paralyzed by that shining smile...and those eyes...

 

She truly loved me unconditionally.

 

It was an amazing find and the bambini were jittery with excitement as they took it all in...