Valued Possessions
Forest
fire! Flames creeping
down the mountainside.
Air smells smokey in our yard.
We load our car with our treasures…
Fifteen photo albums,
our life story…
valued!
Forest
fire extinguished!
Smoke and fear dissipate.
We unpack our car with smiles and
new insights of what we value…
Family history,
daughter’s childhood…
valued!
Copyright© 2021 by Cheryl Batavia
One Saturday about forty years ago, when my husband was at work, my young daughter, Ellen, and I watched fire and smoke moving down the mountainside toward our house. We packed our car with something irreplaceable…our photo albums. My fifty-two-year-old daughter still has those albums, memories of her childhood.
An Album of Childhood
Photo by Deb Dowd from Unsplash.
Gulf Coast Poet 
Very emotional one Cheryl!❤
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Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts, Mousumi. This memory has been with me for a long time, one of those”aha” moments in my life! Have a great day! ❤
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Memories etched in heart! You also have a nice day Cheryl!❤💖
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Most valued possessions indeed. 💝
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Thank you, Michele, for your lovely comment. ❤ I appreciate it very much. ❤
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Thank goodness you were all safe. 🙏🏻
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Wonderful thoughts, Cheryl, keeping memories safe is so important!
Joanna
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Thank you so much, Joanna, for your kind response. Glad you enjoyed the poem. ❤
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You are more than welcome.
Joanna
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It is moving and utterly distressing to even come close to feel, leaving one’s home out of nature’s fury. Some what how it’s happening in Spain due to the volcanic eruption.
Only memories can save ones heart.
Narayan x
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Thank you, Narayan for sharing your thoughts.Your kind response means a lot to me. ❤
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Great memories💕 worth cherishing ,Cheryl !
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Thank you so much, Direndra, for your kind comment. ❤
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Pleasure is all mine ♥️
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I think in times of crisis, we learn what is most valuable to us! So sad that displacements due to forest fire will become more and more widespread.
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Thank you, Ingrid, for sharing your thoughts. When selecting photos for this post, I considered using a photo of a forest fire, but I thought about the people in California and what they have endured and just couldn’t bring myself to do that. I watched a documentary about a plan to restore forests in the western US to health. They are using controlled burns to thin the forests as nature did before we started putting out all fires. I hope this helps!
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I really hope it helps too! ❤️
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Some treasured memories❤
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Thank you, Nawaz, for your kind response. ❤ Take care.
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You too❤
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Beautiful and priceless ❤
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Thank you, JR. Your kind comment makes me happy. ❤ Have a great day!
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Wow! Such a lovely moving piece! Such memories are priceless. Beautifully penned, Cheryl 👍💐💖
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What a beautiful response, KK! Thank you so much for your kind words. ❤ 🙂 ❤
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And after all these years it still sounds so fresh in your words. Great that you saved those treasures. Maggie
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Thank you, Maggie, for your kind words. Your comment is deeply appreciated! ❤
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An excellent lesson and great poem. Take care. Scott
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Thank you, Scott, ❤ I am so happy that you like the poem. That experience was one of the "aha" moments of my life. 🙂 All the best!
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beautiful share Cheryl packing up our memories of the heart so beautifully expressed.. That is the gift alrighty my friend💖
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Thank you, Cindy, for your kind response. ❤ I thought of you when I was writing this post. I saw a documentary a few days ago about plans to use extensive controlled burns to thin western forests as Mother Nature used to do before humans put out all fires. Native Americans used such methods to manage forests. I hope it works! What is your opinion?
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It’s my pleasure Cheryl and I totally agree with this. So kind of you to think of me as I share your sentiments. It is a well know fact that control burns can be helpful… well at least to us… 🤷♀️! 💖🌷❤️
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Very poignant. It’s good to hear the photos survived.
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Thank you, Lawrence. Your kind comment means a lot to me. It makes me happy to know my daughter has this record of her childhood. ❤ Wishing you all the best!
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A critical reminder of what treasures are important – had a wakeup call many years ago and took the time to convert all the old pictures we cared about to digital and parked them in the cloud. At least that worry now addressed.
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That sounds like a good plan to preserve your memories. I am sure it gives you peace of mind. 🙂 Thank you for sharing your thoughts. ❤ All the best!
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Indeed the most valued treasures of all, how precious that your daughter still has those albums. makes it all the more special because of this memory of being rescued from the fire 🙂
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Thank you, Pregalba, for your kind and thoughtful response. ❤ I will have to ask Ellen if she remembers putting all our photo albums in the car. 🙂 I think she was about twelve.
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You are very welcome 😊
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I understand well what you feel ( or felt) Cheryl as I posted about too . I watched recently with a grandaughter a photo album from 2000 . She was two years old . ❤
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I remember that post, Michel. I loved it! How nice that she helped with the vacuuming. Such a pretty child and then a lovely young woman! 🙂 Have a great day!
Love ❤
Cheryl
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a pending disaster sets our priorities straight very quickly … most people who lost it all in a fire/flood claim those family memories, photos and letters are the most emotionally devastating … things that can never be replaced! Now with digital cameras and cloud storage these memories will always be available 🙂
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Protecting our memories is one great advantage of technology, Kate. Thank you for pointing that out. I had a box full of old photos scanned, and still have a few in the garage I could get scanned onto a disc. I feel very sad for those who lost their photos and other irreplaceable mementos in natural disasters. Have a lovely day! ❤
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and you!
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Lovely poem Cheryl 💖 and so true!
We recently lost few old photos in some albums to moisture, they were stored in a cupboard and got affected. So can perfectly relate to your message.
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So sorry to hear about your lost photos, Deb.
Thank you for your kind response to my poem. It means a lot to me! ❤ Have a great weekend!
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Lovely memories shared so beautifully in this poem, great post Cheryl 💕🌸
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It makes me happy that you enjoyed the poem, Henrietta! Thank you for your kind comment! 🙂 ❤
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Beautiful and inspiring. Thank you Cheryl! ❤
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Glad you enjoyed the post, Filipa. Your kind comment means a lot! ❤ All the best!
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I wish you all the best too Cheryl. ❤💫
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