Best Attic Find

A sweet friend of mine has offered to help us get rid of some excess clutter. We have already cleaned out the garage attic, but decided to tackle the house attic as well before the big sale/donate process. So, a couple of weekends ago, we cleared everything out of the attic. We virtually filled our 500 +/- SF gameroom with boxes from the attic...most of which had been there since we moved in back in 2002. Last Sunday, I decided to get serious about getting through all the boxes. My office is also in the gameroom and shall we say it was a bit claustrophobic. We knew we would find some great memories, some "why did we save this" and many other "treasures."
David and I are notorious for boxing clothes into Rubbermaid tubs and piling them in the attic thinking we will wear them again in the future...when we are smaller, when it is colder, etc. Yet, our closets always seem to be full to the max! So, I decided to really clean out the clothes boxes and just get rid of most of it.
Back when I worked full time in a professional office, I had a red wool knit suit that had a very long jacket and long pleated skirt. I wore this suit frequently in the winter. I found it in one of the attic clothes boxes. And thought to myself...."it was beginning to get some moth holes, and was a bit snug the last time I wore it (prior to 2002) and further, it probably just isn't in style anymore", so I put it in the "donate"pile.

In order to provide the background, when David and I married on 6/4/1983, my Mom gave us a small cartoon style ceramic elephant that was in a velour pouch which she had made and embroidered on the front, "My love for you is bigger than an elephant." For years we played the game in which we hid the elephant for each other never telling each other when we had found it and re-hidden it. Several years ago, probably about the time we moved, we realized that neither of us had seen "the elephant" for quite some time. Since we never told each other when we found the elephant, we had no idea who had hidden it last. We really thought that it had been lost at some point when something was thrown away or donated with the elephant inside a pocket, etc.

Once when I traveled overseas on a trip that I was really nervous about, David found a picture of an elephant on the internet, printed it and put it in my computer bag. It definitely conveyed the thought, but not the same as "the elephant."

Now back to the donate pile. Every since we realized the elephant has been "missing", we never donate anything without checking through all pockets, cubby holes, etc. And as I was folding my red suit, the pocket felt "full." I dug in and guess what......I FOUND THE ELEPHANT! We were both so excited and I had to immediately call my Mom and let her know.

Obviously David was the last one to hide it, so the elephant has once again been placed in a special place waiting for David to find it and be reminded of my love for him!