Little Box of Horrors
My Dad sent me a very innocent-looking box of stuff that’s been hanging around his house for, oh, 15 years. Within that box was another box. And within THAT box was this:
Anyone who was a teenage girl in the 80s instantly recognizes those sordid little squares. They are notes. We wrote them in class, passed them in the halls, and read them in the next class. At the time, I thought I was just corresponding with my buddies. Now, I realize I was unknowingly smack in the middle politics so tough, I don’t think you could find a Senator who could survive a single day in my sneakers.
Matt dove right in.
His readings are very literal, as in, he likes to literally shout the stuff that’s written in all caps or followed by 346 exclamation points. (OR BOTH
Oh, here’s the box itself, Matt getting ready to dive back in like it’s Santa’s sack.
We won’t mention the cookie crumb clinging to the corner of Matt’s mouth. Oops.
Then Aron came over, and tucked in for a couple of readings.
Aron really tapped into the sarcastic tones many of the notes contained.
There is also some video, if I could figure out how to upload it. Coming soon!
He has promised me use of his scanner, so I hope to share many of the actual artifacts right here. Because for real? They are way, way, too fucking good to share.
So in the meantime, here is what you need to know.
1. Many of these were written at a traumatic, pivotal time, at the end of seventh grade, right before I moved from Pittsburgh to Ohio.
2. I was astonishingly boy-crazy, even for a 12-year-old girl.
3. There is a diary:
4. Signed by Nedra Volz:
5. Don’t know who Nedra Volz is? Recognize this lady?
Ringing a bell now, isn’t she? She was friends with my grandpa. That’s a whole nother story.
6. Lovingly slipped into the back of the diary, I found… POEMS. By me.
I haven’t been able to bring myself to read them in their entirety yet, but I will tell you right now, the first one starts with the words “After War.”
They will get scanned, eventually.
Full photo set here. It will be growing soon.