Frequently Forgotten
By Ella Embry
By human nature, we adapt. We adapt and move on with new chapters of our lives. High school, college, adulthood, etc. The one sector of our lives that we tend to forget the most about is our childhood. We are fresh to the world and are experiencing many things for the first time, so of course we aren’t going to remember every little detail. But sometimes it’s those small details that truly create the biggest life lessons. Riding a bike for the first time, spending all afternoon playing in the grass, and creating masterpieces with little blocks of chalk. Each moment leads into bigger pictures in the grand scheme of things. I live next door to a family of four with two little girls, Vivian (5) and Chloe (7). They are always outside doing what they do best, being a kid. After a while, I started to notice objects scattered around the neighborhood. Possessions of theirs that they must have forgotten. It made me start to reminisce about my childhood and the memories I made with objects that I had forgotten. With parental consent, I captured images of what will eventually become Vivian and Chloe’s fondest memories.
A lone, giraffe stuffed animal lies abandoned on the side of a street. It’s owner is nowhere to be found as it sits on the cold, gloomy cement waiting to be collected once again.
Bins labeled, “Donate” and “Attic” pile high and fill the remnants of a garage. The contents inside are ready to be occupied by new possessors that will create future memories.
Pictures drawn by Vivian and Chloe, remain hidden in their trash can because they simply “were not refrigerator worthy,” in their opinions. They asked their parents to scrap them so they could work on better pieces of art. Yet, these cute creatures will forever be forgotten.
A closer look at Vivian’s artwork that she deemed not good enough and wanted to leave behind.
Wrapping the corner of the home, here lie Vivian and Chloe’s beloved best friends that they seemed to have forgotten before heading inside. Raspberry and Horse–unique names–rest on the grass patch next to the electrical box, waiting for their owners to remember them once more.
