The Nana Box: An Archiving Solution

“Cleaning out” is a perennial pre-occupation. We hope eternally to purge, organize, and generally curate the flotsam and jetsam accumulated over decades. But it’s daunting!

Downsizing and preserving heirlooms

Recently my husband and I moved to a much smaller home and this project became immediate and overwhelming. As I accepted the fact that I must get rid of my grandmother’s china and her too-small, must-be-ironed placemats and linen napkins, I had an idea.

From the Container Store I purchased an archival storage box of the right size to serve as my Nana Box of mementos. Into it I carefully stored keepsakes from my beloved grandmother that remind me of her. For example, I saved one dessert plate and gave away the rest of her china. Other items to save came easily to mind: the tiny prayer book that she gave me at my confirmation, symbolic of her roll in my faith. A book about her life-threatening horseback riding accident in Rocky Mountain National Park in 1931. My favorite photo of her with my grandfather. He has been fly-fishing. She is holding the fish.

The importance of preserving memories

Of course, behind each item lies a story, the “why” that this object reminds me of her. And there are more treasured memories with no objects attached. I did not have time during the purging/moving to write those stories, but I hope to someday. To help me keep my promise I tucked a list of story topics into my Nana Box. It’s a work in process. When I take time to write the stories I will have the list for memory prompts.

The important thing, I figure, in an archiving project, is to begin. To gather together, to label, to describe, in however many steps it takes. Set achievable goals: gathering objects, labeling photos, writing stories one at a time. As my Austrian mother-in-law loved to say, “langsome aber sicher,” slowly but surely. Pretty soon we will have preserved treasures.

The more steps that I complete for the Nana Box, the sharper the portrait I will provide for next generations of this gently inspiring woman in my life.