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Description
~boxes~
~pulls the bright colored shoe box from the shelf and settles in the quiet room taking a deep breath. opens the lid with it's glued on bits of pictures and baubles n sets it aside, smiling as the memories flash back in a technicolor montage of far too few years.

a toy car minus the wheels, and slightly modified to perfectly fit under a slightly larger toy Bigfoot, also in the box
a bottle of green food coloring that was used to color cupcakes for a princi-pal lunch(and the swatch of the same principals white dress shirt with a perfect but smallish green handprint left from the hug)
a very bad fake mustache and playbill from a community theater where a 10 year old outshone the adults
pictures of a beautiful boy, always smiling- sandy blonde hair, lanky and pale with vibrant cornflower blue eyes and a wicked sense of humor and a proclivity toward practical jokes, huckleberry Finn brought to flesh
growing
thriving
loving life
letters from local firefighters thanking one small boy for efforts to educate about smoke detectors and responsibility
an honorary firebadge
a perfectly preserved painted lady butterfly, because he believed in change and hope
a graduation certificate from preschool, another from middle school- less than a year ago, both signed by my own hand.
a tiny ty beany in the form of a puppy, no eyes left and fur that's more or less gone
a medal from the last special olympics
an application to space camp
each item lovingly placed for the day the box would no longer be in my care, given to mom n dad at graduation, we'd hoped
-picks the items up tears flowing freely for a the bright lil mind so quick n strong, placed in a body that was neither.
places the funeral notice and obituary with the cards from friends on the top of the items and closes the box.
takes a deep breath and looks at the remaining boxes in the closet praying this will be the last one she has to turn over before graduation.
wipes her eyes and gathers herself to go one last time to his parents.

JHS~5/22/96- 3/16/2009