Email Organization & Memories

I battled with my swollen email cache today—  folders were created,  ancient emails were organized , old ads and “forwards” from my mother were deleted.   OK, so I had over 6000 emails lying around—does that make me a bad person?  I’m now down to 372, and am quite proud of myself.  I don’t know how others handle their old correspondence, but I can’t part with notes from my kids, daughter-in-law, nieces, siblings, or close friends.  I guess emails have replaced the old yellowing ribbon-bound letters of yesteryear.   

I didn’t dare let myself stop and read the various notes, but I did notice that there were some from the time period before our son’s wedding—and memories came flooding back.   And I thought about the months of preparation for the wedding and what it was like when our son and his new wife lived close by.   They would stop over to “hang out” and Danielle and I would meet at the gym to work out together…..

Then there were the ones from our daughter.   I didn’t even have to peek—I started thinking about how drastically her life has changed over the last four years (the time period of the emails).  She had to scramble when she was first out of school—she had to deal with roommates, jobs, dealing with a beat up old car, desires to travel the world, but knowing she needed to work—the usual drama for a young lady in her early 20’s.  Things are so different now—she’s doing so well—it’s amazing.   She’s had great success in her field, has money in the bank, a new car, a roommate- free apartment, and is starting to look for a house to buy.  I’m so thankful.

Then there are the emails from a former friend.  It used to hurt just seeing her name in the inbox, but the pain of that ended relationship has lessened now.  Someday soon I’m going to re-read her emails just to marvel at how the events unfolded, I guess.  She used to start her letters with such endearing terms—did she mean them, or was there an insincerity there that went undetected at the time? 

There’s also, Lilly, my niece.  She has been a faithful correspondent for several years now and I thought today about how much she’s grown up in the time we’ve been writing.  She’s 14 now and has the privilege and pain of having a well-rounded brain.  She likes science, but is also a creative, artistic photographer.  It will be interesting to see what path she chooses in life.  She will have a lot of options. 

So anyway—all these thoughts swirled around in my head as my right shoulder started to ache from sitting improperly at the computer, clicking buttons to make my precious messages “move to” a special folder designated for that person.  I feel like I have a little treasure trove in those folders.  Every email is significant because it represents an important person and relationship in my life.  Thank you to those who have chosen to spend time at their computers, relaying their thoughts to a blank screen and pressing “send.”  You bring me joy.