Possessions

We had a visit recently from a friend of Jamie's who literally for years has lived like a nomad. Tents in the woods, abandoned houses, beaches, his car, these have all been "home" to him. In some ways I admire the freedom he has not being chained by obligations or "things".

I spend a good amount of time thinking about possessions mostly as an irritant. It irritates me that we have so much stuff that we needed to build a shed this summer. It also irritates me that my closets and drawers are completely full. I wonder when we have children how the heck we will fit them and their stuff in the house. Don't get me wrong I'm so grateful that we are fortunate enough to own what we own. I'm just irritated that I can't keep the amount of things manageable and that I'm so practical that I can't get rid of sweaters that I've owned since High School simply because "they are still perfectly good"

Thinking about my things I wondered to myself if our house burned down and we lost everything what would I truly deeply miss. Clothes, furniture, those are replaceable and not to mention fun to shop for. Photos would be sad to loose but for the sake of argument lets say I have my computer and dogs with me when the house burns down. I have photos on my computer new and older scanned so I'd be fine there.

The more I thought about it only things that have important memories attached to them would really matter to me. One thing that I would really really miss is the teapot and cup set in the picture above. It reminds me of my Grandmother who died 5 years ago. Due to my Grandfathers financial discipline over the years his frugalness really paid off when my Grandmother was able to take our family to Europe in 2000. My Grandmother (God rest her soul) was not the most dignified person in the world which was kind of a running joke with her. She was loud, lively, warm, fun and generally amazing. This trip was her first one overseas and everything we saw on that trip she wanted to take with her as a souvenir. On one occasion in Paris we had tea at the Ritz I think she stole napkins, a glass tea stir stick and who knows what else. I remember being so embarrassed at the time and thought she was nuts but now it's just one of the many endearing memories I have of her and her excitement of being there and living in the moment. The teapot story is much the same, at one of our hotels on the trip different tea sets were in each of our rooms and she decided she would "take" them. I don't remember if it was me or my mother (we're slightly more tight laced than her :) who talked her in to asking for them at the front desk and she did which was how I got my tea set.
I love this thing. I rarely use it but it's out where I can see it all the time and It reminds me of someone who I love very much and of specific memories that I cherish.

What would you miss?