The Loss of a Bulletin Board

             Similar to the other members of my group, and possibly other students at this school, the Mouthpiece never meant much to me.  It never even really stuck out to me.  I lived in Parker freshman year and must have walked by and must have looked straight through the essentially translucent bulletin board.  After reading Turkle and spending time thinking about the object, it made me realize that with change, things die out.  The gradual decline of the Mouthpiece showed transformation, evolution, and development over a long period of time.  Studying this object, however, made me think about a bulletin board that had also gone unnoticed for much of my life.  A bulletin board robbed of its importance in a much quicker way than the Mouthpiece.

            Since we were seven years old, my best friend and I were inseparable.  Our instant chemistry on the youth soccer field was the beginning of what would become a life long friendship.  His mom would drive us back to his house after games, school, or any other time we could get together.  We would sit in his kitchen and eat pretzels and I’d gaze up at the cork bulletin board on the wall and smile because a picture of Bobby and I was pinned up there.  I was on the bulletin board.  This bulletin board remained an important part of his family, as it served the same function as most others; a communication board.  Over time, I would find myself reading the bulletin board.  As I grew older, I remember the board representing the most important things to his family.  It had pictures, newspaper articles and a calendar with appointments.  Being around his house for such a long time, the bulletin board was always just there.  And until now, I never really took the time to realize the significance of that board, and what it truly represented. 

            Bobby’s mom was diagnosed with brain cancer in March of 2010 and passed away that November.  While the emotions of his family fluctuated, that bulletin board remained the same.  Not a paper was added, or a word written.  Months had gone by, and that bulletin board stayed the same.  Looking at it now, I realize what it meant.  Now, all that hangs on the cork is a calendar and a memorial card from his mom’s funeral.  Thinking about that bulletin board now, I realize that it represents the loss of my best friends mother.  She was the centerpiece of that family and the person behind the pride taken in that bulletin board.  It represented not just what their family was proud of, but it represented her role as the pride of that family.  To outsiders, that object is no more than cork, tacks, and a calendar.  But to his family and anyone who has been close to them, that bulletin board represents a hole missing in their lives.  It represents the emotions that come along with the loss of a loved one.  When looking at that bulletin board now, its importance seems to be lacking.  However, similar to the Mouthpiece on campus, the now depleted bulletin board that exists in that house shows the history of an object that is representative of an essential component of a family. 

- Shawn Doherty