Life is hard right now, no doubt. I suppose our family situation would be stressful even if I did not have a mental illness. But I do have that mental illness in spades.
Packing up a house I thought we’d live in forever is extremely hard. Giving up some of my favorite furniture is hard.
The outcome will be great, I know. Less stuff means less stuff to take care of. Less home means less home to care for.
But the meantime is extremely stressful. Not knowing for sure where we will live is extremely stressful.
My grandmother gave me a distraction today, a belated birthday present:
This is a tintype of my great-great-grandmother, Caroline Hightower Turner. I was named for her. This is the only known picture of her in existence and it has spent generations in the Moseley family Bible. The baby in the picture is Minnie Turner Harrell. This is a treasure and my grandmother decided I should have it. I’m honored, to say the least. And not only is it a treasure, it’s a treasure in remarkably great shape given that the tintype is at least 140 years old.
I am blessed indeed.
Transition times are really tough. I’m glad that you’re able to see the small joys as you go through this time.
Here in San Francisco a shop recently opened up that does tin type photography. I know someone here who had a tin type photo of his grandfather and he went and got his own photo done in the same style. Very cool!