Collections

I remember that long line of tea pots lining the wall atop the "sideboard" in my grandmother's dining room. There were pots that looked like chickens and milk cows and all different types of farm animals. Some were beautifully floral in design; some had gold trim and a shiny surface that looked polished and refined. Others - like the corn teapot - had salt and pepper shakers and a corn cob shaped butter dish to go along with them.

We've all seen collections from time to time. Some folks have record collections (those albums and singles made in the form of a disc and pressed in vinyl) while other folks collect knives or guns or magazines or comic. Some folks have collections of salt & pepper shakers picked up on their travels from place to place. Still others have collections of model cars or stuffed toys. It appears that in today's society some people collect exes and formers (you know; ex-wives, ex-husbands, former churches, former friends, etc).

I personally like books and bibles (so much so that I have had to start thinning the collection a little at a time so it's not as traumatic as it could be if they all went at the same time).

There are jewelry collections, tool collections, automobile collections, railroad-centered collections, Route 66 collections, Coca Cola collections, Pepsi collections ... well, I'm sure you get my drift.

I'm not sure why people collect what they collect or when the practice even started.

Maybe people who were pushed out of their homelands throughout history had to leave certain things behind and spent much of the rest of their lives trying to fill that empty spot. Maybe the items collected hold certain good memories of loved ones passed. Maybe they just like teapots, or vinyl recordings, or whatever.

Whatever the origin or the reason, collecting is popular these days. Maybe collecting gives folks something to think about when things get tough. Maybe it makes a pleasant distraction from the way-too-stressful lives we lead.

But maybe, just maybe, collecting lets us be sure we have something meaningful to leave to those who come behind. I didn't say valuable - at least not in the financial understanding of valuable. I said meaningful.

Dad left this world in 2011. In his later life he had been given many models of horses; all different breeds and colors and sizes of horses. He didn't have much to leave us, but through those "collectables" he left us wonderful memories. He left us hearts full of love. He left a "touch-point" to be passed on to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren; those things are worth more than you may ever know.

So keep collecting -- you never know who's going to need those memories.