marriage countdown

Being a part-time hoarder isn't all bad. I like to think that everything I save is part passion, part a piece of my heart, but to be truthful sometimes it's more like -- "Ohhh, shiny. I'll have that.... FOREVER".  Rationale, or mixed motives aside, I never feel conflicted about keeping something that is 1) small, and 2) from family.

This is one of my favorite treasures. It's a teeny calendar that my Grandfather used to countdown the days until he could marry my Grandmother. Saving things apparently is genetic, because she tucked this away in an envelope from the jewelry store she worked at, and wrote this note roughly 30 years after they were married:

"This is an old calendar of Fly's. He checked off the the days until we could get married. He was paying off debts of his family. The pattern has never changed."

I find something about both the act of using this calendar, and then archiving it, quite sweet (and also charmingly odd -- Funeral Home calendar?). I honestly don't know what their marriage was like -- I don't think most grandkids really can -- but I like to think this signifies at least a trace of romance. Somewhere someone is now saying to me -- "oh you silly girl'.

Have a silly day. Do something silly. Say something silly. Be with someone and be silly together. Or enjoy some silly private time.