Museum of Me - February 2022

Hello and welcome to the February installation at the Museum of Me. The staff has been working hard on a new exhibit. This has involved some searching through the archives, dusting, and rearranging. If you'll please follow the docent, she'll show you around this month's exhibit. This month it's a Valentine's Day memory. 

I've never celebrated Valentine's day in a big way but made plenty of heart-shaped meatloaves and brownies decorated with those awful chalky conversation hearts when the boys were young. I used to enjoy helping Ryan and Justin make valentines for classmates (possibly more than they did) with red and pink construction paper, doilies, red foil hearts, and glue sticks. One year we had a great idea for a Valentine card, and the museum staff unearthed it from deep in storage. 

When the boys were about four and six years old, John started traveling extensively for work. Sometimes it was just for a few days, but there were plenty of times when he went to South America or Asia for two or three weeks at a time. When I asked Ryan and Justin what they wanted to do for Daddy for Valentine's Day, they thought a really big card would be a good idea to show how much they missed him. I don't remember how we came up with this idea of having them form the letters but I do remember how much fun we had doing it. This was back in the olden days when you had to take photos and then take them to be developed, so it was a project. 

We cut out the photos and backed them with construction paper that was originally red, and then glued them on a piece of poster board that was originally blue. John had it thumbtacked in his office for many years, so it has faded quite a bit. It might have helped if the museum staff had used acid-free paper and some better archival storage than putting it on a shelf with the rest of the photos, but the sentiment is still there.

I love the goofy grins and Justin's favorite dinosaur shirt.

I remember there was some discussion about who got to be upright and who had to lie down for the L, but they're both smiling in the picture. 

Most of all I love these kids and this Valentine's Day memory of how much fun we had at home together. 

The Museum of Me exhibits will be changed monthly on the second Friday of the month, so please stop by again in March for the next carefully curated installation. (The gift shop is on the right on your way out!)