Listography of Cherished Items

Interestingly, the items I've listed all represent a turning point in my life — some good, some bad.

1. My giant troll doll. By far this is probably the craziest item on my list. He arrived on my eleventh Christmas with bright blue hair and sporting a caveman outfit. I named him Ralph. At over a foot tall, Ralph was unique and for that reason he was my pride and joy. Ralph made the journey with me as I changed from little girl to teeny bopper, though he would never be the same again. With permanent markers I decorated Ralph's body as if he was Goldie Hawn from the '60's TV show, "Laugh-In". He's now adorned with groovy sayings such as "sock-it-to-me-baby" and "you bet your sweet bippy" as well as peace signs, hearts and flowers. He's hideous, for I was no artist, but I still love him. He stirs up memories of an innocent time.

2. A dainty ceramic pitcher painted with tiny pink roses. This arrived on my sixteenth birthday containing a dozen pink roses from my parents. That night they took me out to a fancy restaurant — just me, no siblings. All night they treated me like an adult and I was thrilled.

3. The tassel from my high school graduation cap. It takes me back to 1975. The words of Charles Dickens sum up that time so well for me — "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..." To me graduation represented my much desired freedom to start living life under MY rules — free to make choices, right or wrong. But in a blink, fate would devour the last of my innocence. My dad died in a car accident and I began a journey down a dark road created by one bad choice after another. These are memories that keep me humble.

4. A coffee cup given to me on Valentine's Day by the one who, three years later, would become my husband of almost thirty years. It pictures two cartoon hippos gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. On the inside of the cup are the words, "My love for you is enormous". I cried when the handle broke off some twenty years later. Now, with the handle repaired, it's been retired to the top shelf of the cupboard.

5. The outfit I brought my first and only child home in when she was only a few days old. A few years later we dressed her teddy bear up in that tiny sleeper and he still wears it today almost twenty five years later. When I peek into her empty nest room and see that bear lying there in a pile of other stuffed animals, I'm amazed by just how itty-bitty she actually was. I'm reminded of a time full of new and often scary experiences, as we blindly set out down the path of child rearing.

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