I'm Changing my Will...

Last week, my mother told me that when I was a child, I always had to touch and smell objects that looked interesting to me. I couldn't pass a fuzzy or shimmery something without touching it, and I couldn't pass a smell-good without taking a whiff. This is still true today. Just this past week, I was in Target and saw a cozy-looking blanket and had to stop and run my hands over the plush fabric. I could spend an entire day at Yankee Candle Company smelling the various candles they stock.

When my husband and I were dating, we popped into a Wal-Mart store one evening. As we walked down the aisles, I saw a huge, almost life-sized teddy bear. Although I wasn't a kid anymore, I paused for a moment to give it a big squeeze. The teddy bear just looked so huggable that I couldn't resist. I didn't say anything else about that bear, I just paused and hugged it, then we walked on.

My husband (boyfriend at the time) lived three hours away from me. I was spending the weekend with him and when I got home and opened my trunk, there was the teddy bear with a bow around his neck and a sweet note attached. My husband has done many wonderful, thoughtful things throughout the years, but that was extra special to me because I didn't make a big deal over the bear and never said I would love to have it, but he somehow thought it meant something to me and slipped back to the store to buy it.

Throughout the years, we've lived in big houses and small apartments. We're had ample storage space and we've had none. I've lugged that bear around with me for almost two decades now. Presently, our storage space is limited even though I've done some serious purging during the past two moves. Some purging was more necessary than others. At any rate, I've let go of some things that I would likely have kept if not for frequent moves and the uncertainty of how much storage space the next house will have.

Storage is tight right now, but I can't seem to part with a teddy bear better suited for a four year-old than a forty year-old. It's not as if it's a display item that I keep out in my home because it's part of the decor. In fact, most people would wonder why on earth I have a teddy bear around because I have no children. My seven year-old niece spent a few days with me this past week. My husband pulled the bear out and she loved it. Just like me so many years ago, she instantly cuddled the bear. I could have given it to her. I would run over burning coals barefoot, throw myself in front of a bus or take a bullet for this kid, but one thing I won't do is give her my bear. I'm seriously considering altering my will and stating that I should be buried with the thing....

Do you have a particular item that you refuse to let go of, no matter how many times the military moves you? 

   

Comments

[Sarah]

I just loved this post.

I have a dumb thing that I have kept. Do you remember crayon sharpeners? When I was a child and I sharpened my crayons, I collected all the shavings in a butter tub. One day I was going to make something out of them. The amount grew and grew, and I never made anything with them. But I also couldn't bring myself to throw them away.

I still have the butter tub full of crayon shavings. I can't for the life of me figure out why I am still keeping them. But I've had them for SO long now that I just can't let them go.

Gosh, what a silly thing to drag back and forth across the Atlantic :)

[Linda]

Somehow, my husband is NOT in this category, lol! He's constantly about purging and cleaning and getting rid of (not that HE actually does it, just that HE wants it DONE)...so I can't really think of anything that I drag from place to place and often wonder why I still have it. My kids inherited all the stuffed animals I kept, I've gotten rid of most of my knick-knack collectibles...sigh. I have nothing from my past, it seems.

[angela]

My grandpa gave me an ivy from my grandmother's funeral and I can't let it go. I know nothing about plants and yet this thing grew out of control. Now it is in this huge pot that is so big I can't even pick it up. I have to find a man to pick it up and it has to be put in the seatbelt of the car. It is really large and bulky and such a hassle to carry it everywhere. I just can't let it go since my grandpa gave it to me and my grandma would have loved it. Everytime someone makes a comment about why would I keep something the movers won't move I just tell them the story and they say they would do the same.

[NewArmyWifeMegan]

I have the teddy bear my best friend gave to me when my father died when I was 4 years old. I have things that belonged to my father and grandparents and great grand parents. I have more old items decorating my house and in my storage then new things. I got more when I married my husband as he has many family keepsakes.

[Tania]

I used to collect crayon shavings too, Sarah! I just thought they were pretty...and I liked the way they smelled. I'm with Andi in that I have to feel everything that catches my attention. I'm way more reliant on smell, though. I have a really sensitive sense of smell and I like the smells of things other people would balk at.

Anyways, back to things we keep. I have a cute little stuffed mouse I've been taking along with me. I loved this thing as far back as I can remember. I remember hugging it, loving it, and kissing it. I only found out a few years ago that it was off of my crib mobile when I was a baby.

[DL Sly]

I have more than my fair share of mementos I have aquired over the years that I refuse to part with, but perhaps the one I have kept the longest is a big (huge!) pillow my high school music teacher's wife made for me for graduation. I was the only person to ever receive a gift from them, and he was "the" music teacher for my high school for almost 40 years. The fact that his wife made if for me was very special to me at the time. Now that she has passed away due to cancer, it's meaning is beyond my ability to express with a dry eye.

[Navy Guy's Girl]

I don't know if it's a dumb thing, but I have these two boxes of stuff. Little things I've collected over the years, and things my mom saved for me. Like all of my kindergarden art projects, the certificate I got for finishing "rollerskating classes" (it was 1983, what can I say? I was 6), the program from "Phantom of the Opera", the Kurt Cobain tribute edition of Rolling Stone, a couple of mixed tapes, etc.
It started out as one box, grew to two boxes not to long after my son was born (but funny enough, there isn't really anything of his in there) and is going to become 3 boxes here soon, as I find more things to collect. My husband keeps telling me that the next time we PCS, we're leaving my "junk boxes" behind, but I'm pretty sure that I'd run into a burning building to save them.

[Kori]

I have this pitiful crocheted bear that my Grandmother knitted for me when I was born. Been carrying it around for over 35 years now. I did have it next to my bed for awhile, but DH didn't like the bear's puke green tie.

I love it because she made it for me but he's squashed and losing his stuffing. Don't think I'll ever get rid of him.

[dizzylizzie]

i have a collection of bears from my DH. Each time he visits a new country he finds a gift shop and gets me a bear. Ten years of marriage, 3 kids, 9 moves, 4 deployments, and 16 bears (plus one camel) later, i couldnt give up a single one of them.

[Navy Wife since 1986]

I have a bear that a friend gave me. I have had since the summer of 1980.. My hubby hated that bear for months when we first got married. He would hide it from me an even threaten to throw it away. So one day when i was upset i thought he had thrown it away i told him why i kept that old bear... The friend that had given it to me had a crush on me that summer he worked at the amusement park in town. That December he was lost in a house fire. the night my sister was married. So Hubby went into the bedroom and brought the bear to me. An to this day the bear is in our bedroom. It is old and raggedy an i even had to put pantyhose on him to keep his stuffings in him. But Hubby won't even let the kids play with him.