March 8, 2019. Madison, Mississippi. The Trunk.

I lived in several cities. My parents were frequently transferred from place to place in Canada, moving from one furnished quarters to the next. The trunk came with us everywhere we went. The trunk is older then me. I do not know the history of the trunk but I do know that it lives now in the closet of Ken';s office in our home in Mississippi. When we moved to Texas in 1964 we took only what would fit in our car. We left a box of china with Dave and Irene along with the trunk full of my precious belongings. I do not know how my Mother allowed me to use the trunk but it has been in my possession ever since. The trunk is old with wood holding it together. It might have been the trunk my mother used to take her belongings to Training College but it looks older than that so perhaps the trunk came from England with the Houghton family when they emigrated to Victoria in 1911. Or perhaps the Buckley family brought the truck from England to Calgary at about the same time. The leather handles at both end are broken which makes it difficult to move. And the lock at the front does not work. But the trunk is sturdy and useful. Every time I go through my belongings I throw away more objects. My Mother knit me a diamond sweater when we lived in Vancouver. The back and arms were dark green and the front had diamonds. I wore it for years and was washed so often the wool got thin so I stopped wearing it. But I kept it my trunk. It was a treasure but now it is gone. No one else but me knows anything about that sweater so I threw it out. Also in the trunk was the treasure used by Andrew to use going to sleep. I gave it to Christina. The number of objects still in the old trunk is smaller than the last time I sorted it. But the trunk is still with me, the same trunk that followed our family from Toronto to Peterborough to London to Calgary to Vancouver and finally to Toronto. Where it started I do not know but it was a useful trunk used by my parents and for me it is a treasure.