Unique Box Shop
Jack and Mary Anderson
               1917
Richardson  Dawson
Margaret and Wade Dawson
                   1923
Pat and Helen Dawson
Virg and Jennie Doan
              1952
Elbert and Louisa
         Oliver
          1912
Mahalia, Sarah, Della,
Rachel and Elizabeth
            1875
    The Doan Girls
William L. and Mary Ann Graves
                       1905
John M. and LulaCopeland
                 1888
Allison Monroe Hicks
            1924
John and Lucretia Doan
                1910
Lena Taylor
Gone Fishin
     1919
Coffelt Family
Windmills of your mind
Music:
    Patula Clark
John and Inez
  Anderson
Mayflower at Plymouth
Mary Ann Oliver
        1874
                








          Come, look with me inside this drawer,
                     In this box I've often seen,
               At the pictures, black and white,
                    Faces proud, still, serene.

                     I wish I knew the people,
                   These strangers in the box,
           Their names and all their memories
                     Are lost among my socks.

             I wonder what their lives were like,
                 How did they spend their days?
                 What about their special times?
                      I'll never know their ways.

                 If only someone had taken time
               To tell who, what, where, or when,
                     These faces of my heritage
                      Would come to life again.

                     Could this become the fate
                  Of the pictures we take today?
                   The faces and the memories
                    Someday to be passed away?

                  Make time to save your stories,
             Seize the opportunity when it knocks,
              Or someday you and yours could be
                       The strangers in the box.
                                           

                     1997 by Pamela A. Harazim

  

                         AUTHOR IDENTIFIED
                              Date: 04 July 2001
              
                          

Unique Box Shop
Virgil and Jennie Doan
              1906
Frank Hubble
      1980
Louisa  E. McKinley
           1853 
William Wyatt Dawson
             1920
Jennie and Leroy Hicks
               1894
Orvel, Helen, Herman
   Jennie and Virgil
             1937
To: Vanillaheaert@aol.com
Subj: Strangers in the Box
Date: 7/4/01 6:12:12 PM Central Daylight Time
From: dpharazim@cyberzone.net
        (Dan and Pam Harazim)
The author, Pam Harazim, originally wrote the poem
when her mother had dementia, and realized the stories
her mother loved to tell about her youth and her family
were locked inside her, and Pam didn't remember them like
she was so sure she always would. hence, the box of
strangers.

This is definitely one of those moments when
knowing the original story behind the poem brings more
insight to the reading.

Helen Doan
Allison Hicks
      1919
Elbert Wells Oliver
           1853
Myrtle Doan
Orvel and Mary
George Washington and Elizabeth
                        Doan
Bruce Doan