The Smurfs key ring was not something I was particularly interested in but come to think of it I wouldn't have minded uncovering my old Pigs in Space lunchbox. I remember strutting into the cafeteria of the Shawsheen School feeling like I was the coolest kid on the block (believe me, I wasn't) just because I was toting that square metal lunchbox.

For some reason, my clouded memory seems to think I might have had an incident at the bus stop where I pounded my beloved lunchbox over the head of Richie Gardner, the street bully, and then shamefully threw it away to hide the evidence. No, I must have dreamed up that terrible story. I urged Senia Mae to keep looking.

After the last box was finally cleared, the old attic looked amazingly empty. I was reminded of how enormous the space was.
"Mom, there is so much room you could have a whole bowling alley up here! Why didn't we think of that before?" I laughed as the three of us walked down the creaky attic stairs and closed the door for the last time. There was no sight of my old lunchbox, I knew it was gone.

On the plane ride back to Atlanta I asked Senia Mae if she found any great treasures in Grammy's attic. "Oh yes," she said as she pulled out a dusty coloring book that Grammy has secretly slid into her bag. Senia Mae beamed proudly as she displayed the yellowed pages of what obviously was once my Disco Girl coloring book.

Of all of the discarded pieces of my childhood, Disco girl was what she chose. And that is why there's no real way to hide my age because there's always evidence hiding somewhere in my mother's house!

By the time we had gotten home, Kim had heard all about our adventures in the attic and my disappointment over not finding my Pigs in Space lunchbox. One of the great benefits of our modern computer age is that if you can't find what you long for in your mom's old attic, you can usually find it on Ebay! Thank you, Kim!