Sentimental for Sure

One great perk about moving twice in seven months is the opportunity to purge a great many things.  From clothes to knick knacks to many, many shoes, I have weaned myself off my previous level of "stuff."  Most of these things I gave to other people, many to Goodwill.  But as I did my weekly deep clean this past weekend, I noticed that many of the things I have kept, I was lucky enough to receive as gifts from other people.

I am so very lucky to be able to say I have an incredible support system and more than any other time in my life, have relied on them over the last year. So it really made me smile and take a pointed look at my house, my belongings and realize the things and the people that made the cut. Some like the Winnie the Pooh quote board from my college roommate and bestie Margaret, were obvious.  But others were not.  So here is a listing of some of the things that I have held onto over the years and a thank you shout out to the givers.

On my dresser is my care bear bank that my mom made for me when I was 8, in the height of my care bear obsession.  She painted it in a pottery class that I can vaguely remember picking her up at. It is next to my Winnie the Pooh bear that my friend Mandy gave me at some point in our very long friendship.

On my nightstand, for as long as I can remember I have had a small glass bowl with a decorative top and base that a former co-worker, Shea Griffin, gave me in 1996.  It held pot pourri (I think), but it has been the holder of my rosary beads for years now. I was sad to see that part of it broke in the move in March (so much for throwing stuff in boxes in a frantic hurry) but it is still intact and will remain on my night stand until it dissolves.  Shea recently got married and moved to California and thanks to facebook we still stay in cordial contact, but I think of him often, and how completely random it is that of all the things I have received over all the years, that I continue to keep this.

In my bathroom I have a plaque that my friend Melany gave me for my birthday years ago. It was a great day, an epic celebration, one of those days that felt perfect in every way. My core group of friends met for lunch, stayed through dinner, had husbands join us (and drive us home) and it was day that would be in a movie. The plaque reads something like "I remember all the women in my life, and am thankful for all the many ways they have inspired me, challenged me and made me laugh louder."  I am thankful that she thought of me when she saw that plaque, and that even though the friends and husbands are no longer the same, that we had that perfect day.

Along those lines is the plaque that Margaret gave me this year for Christmas that made me feel so loved, and way stronger than I think I am.  It says "I am pretty sure that given a cape and a tiara I could save the world."  When she gave it to me she said that it is how she has always viewed me...that I can handle anything.  I look at it every morning, remember she believes in me and smile.

Next to this is the boomerang that Shelia brought me from Australia and a print that says "she who loves the ocean" I bought in a little tacky tourist shop on our drive from Miami to Key West (in a convertible of course).  It's a trip I will forever be glad that I went on and solidified Shelia as a perfect travel buddy.  The boomerang reminds me to follow my dreams, and to seek out the ocean, because I am truly happy on and in the water.

A friend once told me I don't have a home; I have a gallery, and that made me insanely happy and proud.  I do have a ton of photos hanging on the wall, but each one means something to me and signifies a happy memory. Some are of my recent liberating trip to Ireland with my dear friend Beth and some are older, like the ones from my perfect trip to Jackson, Wyoming.    I have taken most of these photos, but have some other's work sampled in, many from my friend Mandy.  She is a fantastic photographer, and was taking pictures long before I became confident with my own photographic eye. Thanks to her I have some gorgeous photos of a trip I took to visit her in DC.  We got up and out before the sun and were rewarded with some of my favorite pictures of all time. She recently came to my house and didn't even recognize some of her own work, which made me laugh.  For me, I remember every photo being taken as vividly as the picture itself.

Thanks to my friend Dearsley I have a gorgeous poster from the Sante Fe Music Festival which is hanging across from the blue star mirror that my friends Anthony and Barb gave me so many years ago.  My kitchen is full of towels and trivets from Mandy, a clock from Beth, a piece of pottery from Margaret, a vase that Melany brought me back from Italy, a bowl from Peggy. I have two plaques my mom gave me that say "of course I have baggage but at least it's cute and it matches" and "I'm not bossy; I just happen to know what is best for everyone." I have the crystal frame that my friend Stephanie gave me for being part of her wedding.  It holds a picture of my grandmother on her wedding day in 1929 and is next to the picture my dad gave me of my mom and I finishing our first triathlon, holding hands as we crossed the finish line.

I could never list everything in my home that was given to me; there are just too many, but that fact makes me very happy. It means a lot to be in my first home alone, surrounded by physical manifestations of all the love and friendships that are in my life.