She is getting ready to move again, so this trip had 2 purposes:
- return her bike
- pick up some of the things she's getting rid of
She had told me about some of the things she was getting rid of - coffee maker, floor lamp - and added that we could go through her kitchen stuff too because she didn't think she'd take much of that with her.
We got there and she started pointing out different things she didn't have any use for. A rice cooker/ pressure cooker/ slow cooker that Brett pounced on. It had apparently belonged to her ex-fiance, who is no longer in the country. A small teapot left behind by a friend who'd stayed with her for over a month. That got my attention. I miss my tea.
It got me thinking about how many things we accidentally (or not) inherit from others who've been in our lives: family, roommates, neighbors. Unless you got married immediately upon leaving your parents' home, in which case you started adulthood with a full shiny set of all new stuff you had registered for at Target, you probably started adulthood with a bunch of secondhand stuff from your parents' basement, thrift stores, and curb-side rejects.
We got rid of everything but essential items before moving overseas. As of yesterday, we now have an appliance I got from a friend who got it from an ex-fiance who bought it new. I now have a tea-infusing teapot that came from a friend who got it from a friend who... brought it with her? bought it here? I don't know. When we move again, these are probably things we will pass on to another individual.
In the meantime, we have apparently reached the point in our overseas life when we are again accumulating STUFF. Hopefully, I will continue to be choosy and not just get STUFF that has no lasting value or use for me. I've appreciated the simple life we've had without so much STUFF.
I once saw a movie where the inanimate object was the protagonist. I think it was called "The Red Violin". I want to say the movie starts in the middle of the story, but during the course of 2 hours we find out how it was created, who it goes to in which culture and which century. An intriguing premise.
And now I'm left wondering about the lives of my inanimate objects. Do you have any inanimate objects with colorful histories? How would we even know? Thrift stores don't exactly provide letters of possession.
Wow! Coincidentally, I had an idea for a short story this morning about a guy who is a collector of stuff. He is fascinated by every day, mundane items that happened to be in the vicinity when particular events occurred. He would do his best to track down the history of that item to discover how it came to be there.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, I think this may work better as just a strange personality quirk for a character.
I inherited the house I grew up in, so I don't really need thrift stores, I have a basement and an attic to plunder! It is nice knowing so many of the backstories to my everyday household items. (I remember the Christmas morning when Mom received what is now my best kitchen knife - and the silly commercial re-enactment that ensued, for example.)
ReplyDeleteMy problem lies more in the fact that I am now the curator of the lore. In and of itself, this is great - storytelling runs in my genes. However, it apparently skipped a generation because my nephew has a memory like a sieve. He genuinely loves the histories, yet cannot for the life of him recall them, no matter how many times I share.
"Could you write that down, Auntie?"
*sigh*
You definitely should write down a brief synopsis of historic family items, and attach them to the item in the attic or basement, for future generations to plunder!
DeleteSitting here on my bed, I'm looking around at stuff I inherited from various people. My side table that was once the part of my grandparents' bedroom set. A dresser that was my great-grandmother's. (Oh, I also got all my great-grandmother's knitting needles.) It's funny how stuff gets passed along.
ReplyDeleteWhen my grandma died, most things in her house were labeled to go to the people who had originally given that item to her. It really made me pause and think about the gifts I give to people.
DeleteI have a rocking chair in my bedroom. I bought it in 1977 when my youngest was born, I wanted it especially for late night feedings. I traveled through several states and even more moves until that daughter and her husband bought their first house and the first born arrived. She used it through my three grandbabies and in 2010 or 11, gifted it back to me. It sat in our storage shed until we bought our house in January of 2017. So yes, a little history...
ReplyDelete