I have never been able to pass up pieces of someone else’s past when it is scattered about, laid bare for the world to see, in an antique shoppe. Even though I feel guilty for peeking at another’s personal effects, I simply cannot help myself; I’m drawn to the ephemera like a moth to a flame. I can literally spend hours rummaging through boxes and baskets of old photographs, letters, and cards – piecing together the details of a distant stranger’s life, and making them somehow closer to me.

My heart aches when I see stacks of photographs, many that obviously are of the same family members – the resemblance too glaring to mistake – that have been discarding and left yellowing and tattered in a pile at the bottom of some random box somewhere. Why didn’t their current family salvage those precious photos and carry on the legacy for the next generation? The fading notations on the backs of the photos are all that’s left of the stories that are to be told of the events of the day those photos were taken; some so faint that, perhaps, a date and a name are all that’s left to see. Often, the expressions on the faces, frozen forever in time, tell a story that speaks louder than any pen could have written.

What about the box of cards, tied with the tattered ribbons, filled with dried rose petals, that tells one half of a story? It isn’t too hard to see how the whole scenario played out. She so lovingly placed each card into the box, along with petals from the flowers that had accompanied them, and you can imagine her writing back to him on lightly scented stationery, telling him how much she missed him, and how she hoped to see him again soon. The dates on the cards tell the story more than the words he wrote. In the beginning, his cards came frequently, and were filled with words of love and affection. Over time, his cards came less and less, and the words were more proper and refined. She had kept each one, in chronological order, tied with a tattered satin ribbon. The final message had arrived on his embossed stationery instead of a card, and merely said that he had met another and they were to be married soon. You could still see where her tears had stained the paper as she had read his cruel words. There was a photo tucked inside the box, too. It was of a man and woman, both looking so prim and proper. I often wondered if it were a photo of the two of them in better days, or of he and his new bride, as there was no notation on the back.

These strangers touch me in a way that I can’t explain, and I want to fill in the blanks and the missing pieces to their histories, and not let them simply just fade away. So, if you ever visit my house and glance upon my piano which is filled with fanciful ornate frames of family photos, I will be happy to tell you all of the wonderful, glorious, marvelous stories of my great-great aunts, uncles, grandparents, and other assorted relations, and the magnificent lives they lived. Be prepared. My “extended-family” has some great stories to tell!

(Susan Reno-Gilliland is a former Chattanooga-area native, who has traveled extensively, and is now living and working in Georgia. She is a freelance writer, columnist, photographer, artist, interior designer, and owner of “A Southern Belle’s Life.” Ms. Reno-Gilliland has BAs in Fine Arts, Applied Arts-Journalism, and Interior Design, with minors in Psychology and Sociology. She has been a residential/commercial Designer since 1995. Due to her many relocations between ’95-‘02, she changed the focus of her design studio in 2002, and is strictly by appointment-only; working through referrals instead of actively marketing the studio's services, so she has more time to write, and volunteer within the community. In addition to her varied creative works, Ms. Reno-Gilliland also offers decorating workshops to community and civic organizations. She is active in several community and charitable activities – most specifically breast cancer awareness and animal protection, rescue and adoption. She is a strong supporter of the Arts, is a published writer and columnist, is currently working on a new anthology book, and has been a featured speaker at public events and on several local/regional community television shows. Ms. Reno-Gilliland also works with Realtors to assist their clients in preparing homes for sale. She may be reached at southernbelle@susanrenogilliland.com)