This was easy because of the three pictures right in front of me at the computer desk. DJ and Billy when they were young, Billy was 10 months old and DJ is 4 desperately trying to haul Billy up into a little wagon. (He doesn’t make it, but the picture is kind and just shows the trying!)
DJ at ten years old with our dog, Watson playing in the back yard. DJ will be 20 this July, time flies so quickly…
DJ had just come home from his first day at school, and he is standing on a stool to tell his dad, who is on the phone, about his day. Billy is on the floor peering up at his brother, he is two in the picture.
I’ve loved every moment of being a mom. Well, maybe not the good byes.
Judy
“Honestly now, Chaplain, you wouldn’t want your sister to marry an enlisted man, would you?”
“My sister IS an enlisted man, sir” the chaplain replied.
A Purple bendable Panther. He is my mood barometer, and usually [[displaying whatever position I feel myself in for the day.]]
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[[What is this?]] are you saying you’re horny all the time?
A white ball cap with the Caterpillar™ logo on it. My dad got it from the Cat rep when he got a new bellydump to drive not long before he retired. It didn’t have a lot of emotional weight until he was paralyzed after a surgery two and a half years ago.
-The pictures I have in front of me of the sweetest, most adorable woman on the earth.
-A little wood carved statue of Don Quixote my dad gave me when I was a kid. On the bottom it says, “With love, Dad, April 25, 1979.” It’s always been a source of inspiration whenever I am feeling “different”.
-The family bible I swiped before my sister could. Even though I have been away from Catholicism for a long time, seeing the beautiful images in it and flipping through the gilt pages makes me feel…pious? Holy? I dunno…it gives me that warm, fuzzy “there’s a higher power” feeling.
Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel,
a beautiful red steam shovel.
Her name was Mary Anne.
I have a jewlery box with a lock that dad gave me when I was about 16 or so, the paintings my mom did for me, some elephants, in particular the carved one Angie brought me back from New York about 10 years ago.
I have a box of stuff I keep in my trunk: movie stubs, notes from friends, a couple of condom wrappers, some pictures, my retainer, dried rose petals and some ribbon from my prom, a card signed my all my scuzzy gas station friends at my wedding, the little bracelets my boys wore in hospital, the two pregnancy tests showing positive results, some feathers from my buddy Jim’s farm, some dog hair from our old dog, gone some 15 years now…
All within arm’s reach:
My Straight Dope Mug ~ Sent to me by an absolute sweetheart. I hope we get to meet someday IRL.
A photo of all of our kids ~ tough to get them together and standing still at the same time…it’s a “Family in the Blender” type of significance for me.
HP NetServer ~ A gift from a colleague…a constant reminder of the importance of friendships in the midst of difficult times, and the transitory nature of life.
My Dad’s pilot glasses ~ Words fail me now.
“Well, there was that thing with the Cheese-Wiz…but I’m feeling much better now!” – John Astin, Night Court
“If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.”
a small collection of my daughter’s first stuffed animals, sitting on top of a chest of drawers in my bedroom;
a bouquet of dried flowers I saved from an arrangement I took home from my dad’s funeral;
on the top shelf of my kitchen cupboard, a ceramic vase some old lady gave me at my wedding shower. This vase is so ludicrously, grotesquely ugly that it inspires horror and hilarity in all who view it. I keep it because every time I hear a bride whining that she got three blenders or not enough sterling silver or cold hard cash, I can alway whip it out and say, “Be lucky you didn’t get…THIS!” (BTW, the vase is brown, it looks like a hollowed-out penis set on a pedestal. A real object de art!)
I have my three favorite stuffed animals from childhood. Bronty the brontosaurus, Lovey the brown dog, and Brownie the light brown dog. I still love those guys!
Rose
I really don’t place that much emotional relevance on material items. I guess I’m weird that way. I do however, still use the keychain that my parents gave me on my 16th birthday (10 years ago) that says “Destined for Greatness.” It made me feel good to think they had that much confidence in me. Though, I’m still trying to live up to the endorsement.
I had to think about this one for a few minutes, and the funny thing is the 3 things I cherish are all rings, all 3 given to me by the 3 most special people in my life.
One is just a simple silver band, I wear it on my left middle finger.
The other two are tin, one had a red plastic “rhinestone” the other a blue one.
I wore them until they turned my fingers green and the stones fell out. They now sit in my jewelry box, although I think of them often and they truly sit in my heart.
I like it here-can I stay?
And do you have a vacancy for a Back-scrubber?
Actually, I just wanted to add one more thing. It’s a copper key chain fob, in the shape of a coin from the Grand Canyon. I went there with my sister and dad when I was a kid. When I was around 11 I lost it in the backyard and found it three years later. I figured it must be lucky or something. I’ve had it ever since.
Mike Mulligan had a steam shovel,
a beautiful red steam shovel.
Her name was Mary Anne.
My stuffed Piglet. I pointed him out to Mr. Rilch as my favorite Pooh character, he bought him on a whim, and he kicked off my serious doll/animal collecting. I say “him” because I’ve given all the animals and dolls personalities and voices.
My werewolf staff. Always around my neck. They made me take it off for the mammogram; I only complied because to do otherwise would defeat the staff’s purpose: to protect me.
3)My Zippo with a Peter Bagge drawing enameled on it. I once thought I lost it at a gas station (it was in a remote recess of the car) and the station attendants couldn’t understand why I was so distraught. They asked, “Was there money in it?”
“His eyes are as green as a fresh-pickled toad,
His hair is as dark as a blackboard,
I wish he was mine, he’s really divine,
The hero who conquered the Dark Lord.”