Saturday, March 20, 2010

Self Exploration #4 - That Thing

So this one is a little odd.  But here goes anyway:

What is your most prized possession?  Why do you value it?  (And I don't want to hear that anyone loves their scriptures or their kids or whatever.  We'll consider those a given.  Also, photographs or photo albums are out.  We're not talking about things you'd want to save in the event of a fire.  I'm asking about your most favorite thing in the world.)

Here's mine:


When my parents went to Italy back in the late nineties, I was devastatingly jealous.  I have dreamed of going to Italy for as long as I can remember, specifically Venice.  But I wouldn't say no to Rome or Sicily.

When Mom was packing her bags, I asked her if she would bring me back some dirt from the country I longed to see someday.  She said she would, and she succeeded.  The dirt in my hand here came from under a tree in Venice, Italy and was smuggled back into the U.S. inside a film canister.  

I love it because it represents one of my dreams.  Someday, I will be there for myself.  I will smell the salty air of the Adriatic Sea as I skirt along the canals in a gondola.  That's all I want.  I could be there for three hours and get to do nothing else and still die a satisfied woman.  Maybe when I go, I will return this soil to it's home, having no need for it anymore.  But in the mean time, I have a little piece of Italy with me to remind me that someday I will stand there on enough of that dirt that I won't need to carry this tiny bit with me anymore.

What object do you treasure?

4 comments:

  1. I'm not ignoring this one, I just have to think about it for a bit......

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  2. Okay, I've racked my brain and I seriously cannot think of one single thing that I prize over all others. Aside from photos (which I actually do prize) I just don't put a lot of sentiment into physical things. I'm not a pack rat (and I'm not saying that anyone who prizes a certain possesion is, just trying to explain my lack of one thing), and I love to purge my home of things that I really don't need anymore. I get a sick sort of satisfaction out of throwing things away or dropping them off at the Goodwill.
    If I HAD to chose something, it would be the stash of cards and love letters from my husband. I don't think he has ever let a birthday/anniversary/valentines day go by without writing a beautiful and heartfelt sentiment in a card or letter for me. I have kept just about all of them in a little trunk in my room. When I'm feeling especially down, I go back and read through some of them - and always feel a thousand times better afterwards. :)

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  3. Ok.. I thought of one right away. You know when celebrities put their hands in the wet cement; leaving their hand print and writing their name below? Well I have one of my cat- snowflake. Her paws were printed on there after she died.
    Snowflake was my everything. It sounds ridiculous, but being an animal lover... i over look how ridiculous it actually is. She would wait at the door for me at 5:00 a.m to go feed and water my animals, walk me to the bus/ meet me at the bus after school,and many other things. But that cement thing was given to me by the vet- totally on his own he felt so bad. She had the feline leukemia; had a stroke and died. It was so extremely hard since that next month i had to move to WA. Anyways.. long story short...that meant so much to me. I keep that and her collar.. its quite dear to my heart :)

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