I don’t randomly find many reminders of Nebraska, so when I do, they make me cry.

I found this box in our attic when we moved. Now it’s full of Christmas decorations, but I can just imagine this box used to sit in my moms closet above the stairs, back in the top rack where Nathan and I couldn’t reach or see. Even as an adult who doesn’t live there anymore I still feel strange going into that area of the closet because I know it’s where presents are stored, and if you saw presents before Christmas there was no surprise. Neither Nathan or I ever hunted for presents around the house. We didn’t try and find where they were stashed or carefully unwrap them to see what we were getting before Christmas morning. We knew exactly where they were. We didn’t look because we wanted opening them on Christmas morning to be special.

My mom probably filled this box throughout the year. Finding toys that she thought we would like and hiding them until she felt like treating us. Seeing this box just reminds me of what a loving mother I have, who spoiled both of us rotten.