My diploma arrived on Thursday. Very nice. Now I can slip it into a drawer with other stuff I want to keep but don't really want to look at very often.
It's funny the things we keep. My Girl Scout sash. Little slips of paper with things the kids have said. My softball T-shirt from 8th grade. A Kelsey doll in a wedding gown that I'm saving for Kelsey's bridal shower, should she ever have one. A clay ash tray I made in second grade art class. Cards and letters and papers and awards and more diplomas – and I thought I wasn't into stuff.
But I keep those things because they mean something to me, because they take me back to a particular time in my life, because the people involved mean something to me, because the people involved mean everything to me.
Now my big red diploma folder will nestle among my pink, wind-up bunny that I've had since birth; a brand-new Twitter T-shirt that Nancy Lee Grahn signed because I was playing celebrity whore; my dad's Army pouch containing some foreign coins from his wartime travels, if you want to call them travels; and a host of other things too numerous to mention or even remember without peeking.
But sometimes I peek, and I remember the things I keep.
6 comments:
You're not into STUFF. You're into talismans, or keepsakes, or memory reminders, whatever you call them. They make life interesting. I'm glad you've kept such wonderful things as a pink bunny and a Girl Scout sash. All together they give you rich memories--they give us glimpses--of your life. Either way, your STUFF shows me some of the reasons why I've always LOVED you!
In my drawer I have a barf bag and a towel from my first airplane ride. I went to "Frorida" to see Boughey AKA Bubba I was 16 years old, you were not yet born. I also have my Girl Scout sash, Blackhawk Troop 195. I saved lots of other things, wouldn't it be awful to have nothing in the drawer?
congratulations!
Thanks, Laurie.
Lisa, it would be awful to have nothing in the drawer. I think it's fun to look at other people's treasures and wonder what the hell they're saving them for. I was looking over the Girl Scout badges they have now--very different. Lots of tech stuff now.
Marcia, I keep some things, but generally I am not very sentimental about items of mine. I think I'm more attached to other people's stuff than mine, actually. I have my memories, but other people's keepsakes remind me of them (the people), and it's people that matter more than stuff. I love you, too.
Actually, I hope you tack your diploma up in your hallway for a while. You worked HARD for that diploma! It deserves to be seen for a little while before it takes its place of honor in your Stuff Drawer! :)
Loving the photo!
Post a Comment