Beyond people (who aren't my possession, I only love them) I don't have any. Yes, I love all my books, and strange little items I've collected over time, but I can easily live without all of it. I think my dearest possessions are memories of events and foreign places.
I think that's what makes this question so hard, right? I agree about memories, but without physical scrapbooks, we don't have an actual possession related around that event? Maybe there's a trip you took where you bought something that you value -- for example, I love this Daunt Books bag I picked up in London but it would be odd to call it a prized possession. But maybe it is. LOL. :)))
Wow, a very tough question! My quick answer is my signed wooden spoon from Julia Child - I met her in Nov 1999 and she has always inspired me. The spoon is mounted & framed, but tucked away in a closet (why?)...I’m moving in a few months and will definitely showcase the prized possession in my new kitchen.
wow, Jessica. That's really cool. You def need to take that out of the closet. I think that's interesting, too, though...how sometimes the things that matter so much to us aren't in our view everyday. But knowing that they're there gives us joy and comfort. Love.
Sometimes I think of my possessions as being “too showy” or indicative of bragging. Does that make sense? If I kept my family’s photo albums on the coffee table and guests could see all of the places we’ve traveled - it just feels weird to me, for some reason. Maybe the signed spoon is similar? I have a photo of me with Julia, it’s hidden away, it’s my memory that I don’t share with others. Someday soon (when I move into a new house) the spoon will come out of hiding.
Such a tough question! I think the teddy bear is a great suggestion (mine is named Stitches and was a crib present). Along with my wedding ring, I have a handkerchief from Dad's side of the family and a ring from Mum's and that's about it in the way of family heirlooms so both feel like strong contenders. I feel like I'm going to be pondering this for some time...
OMG, Julia. You still have Stitches. We are going to need to see a photo! xo Only another historical fiction writer would adore a handkerchief, right? I even giving my characters hankies to use so I can imagine how special a real one would feel. I love when they're embroidered with a character's initials, too. Very sweet. I love these ideas.
I carried the handkerchief on my wedding day (my dress had pockets!), and when both of us started crying, I pulled it out and offered it to my soon-after husband!
You stumped me with this when we discussed last week but I think it is my undergraduate thesis. I spent my whole senior year of college researching and writing it, and I don't have a digital copy anymore (it was on some old hard plastic MacBook "floppy" disc at some point, but that was 27 years ago!)
It was called "Transylvania, National Heartland?: The Construction of a Symbolic Territory in Hungarian and Romanian Nationalism" and was about the two countries' conflicting claims over Transylvania as their "cradle of birth." I used to be intellectual. But also funny, the first line was: "The following has nothing to do with vampires."
Oh no, Brooke! You'll have me walking around my house looking all night. Like you, I am not attached to possessions.... prefer books, ideas, people, but I have a feeling I would gravitate to a gold bracelet of my mothers', some earrings my husband gave me, my mother in law's flat gold circle with her initials that I don't ever wear. They would act as a way to hold on to a memory, physically in contact with me. Of course my own memoir, all my writing! Yesterday I was going through presentations, conversations everywhere about At the Narrow Waist of the World and my other writings and saw my life going by. Years of my life, something that would help me hold on to that.
Oh Marlena. I can see you wandering the house, too. It's funny to reassess all of your belongings in this way. I love the idea of a gold bracelet of your mother's being prized. I often think about family heirlooms being passed down and it's interesting because I wonder if my children will value some of these things as much as I do. I suppose that's part of our job as parents, telling them the stories and keeping alive the memories and connection to the past so they can feel the heartbeat of those that came before them. How lovely!
This is such an interesting question, Brooke. I can't even begin to answer it off the top of my head. Although...last night as I was searching for earplugs, a piece of paper dropped out of an old book that had been in my bedside table. It as an index card, dated August of 2010. When my son was small, I used to write down things he said on index cards, along with the date and the context. He was 5 years old at the time. I'm not sure why this index card was in the bedside table, as most of them are in a box, but the first thing that came to mind when I read the question was these index cards.
By the way, we have beach photographs all over our house. I realized one day that all of the photographs in our living room are of beaches. This wasn't by design. I just love the water and happen to love photographs of beaches around the world. When I'm in a different country, if I come across a photo of a local beach in a small shop, my eye is drawn to it.
When we lived in Paris, we had three black-and-white photos hanging above our living room sofa: all photos I had taken of one of my favorite beaches in the world, Montara State Beach, which is just a few miles from us.
We don't have a Gray Malin photo, but I can see why that would be a prized possession!
This was a lot harder than I thought. At first, I was sure it was a painting, then I remembered a coat, but it really boiled down to a pair of earrings.
They were given to me by my sister,.
They belonged to an amazing woman that I knew most of my life that was taken from us all to soon
I noticed other people mentioning heirlooms here. In fact, will show these pieces to my granddaughters later this month to emphasize the connections w/other generations.
Beyond people (who aren't my possession, I only love them) I don't have any. Yes, I love all my books, and strange little items I've collected over time, but I can easily live without all of it. I think my dearest possessions are memories of events and foreign places.
I think that's what makes this question so hard, right? I agree about memories, but without physical scrapbooks, we don't have an actual possession related around that event? Maybe there's a trip you took where you bought something that you value -- for example, I love this Daunt Books bag I picked up in London but it would be odd to call it a prized possession. But maybe it is. LOL. :)))
Wow, a very tough question! My quick answer is my signed wooden spoon from Julia Child - I met her in Nov 1999 and she has always inspired me. The spoon is mounted & framed, but tucked away in a closet (why?)...I’m moving in a few months and will definitely showcase the prized possession in my new kitchen.
wow, Jessica. That's really cool. You def need to take that out of the closet. I think that's interesting, too, though...how sometimes the things that matter so much to us aren't in our view everyday. But knowing that they're there gives us joy and comfort. Love.
Sometimes I think of my possessions as being “too showy” or indicative of bragging. Does that make sense? If I kept my family’s photo albums on the coffee table and guests could see all of the places we’ve traveled - it just feels weird to me, for some reason. Maybe the signed spoon is similar? I have a photo of me with Julia, it’s hidden away, it’s my memory that I don’t share with others. Someday soon (when I move into a new house) the spoon will come out of hiding.
A signed spoon from Julia Child! That's wonderful! I hope it makes it out of the closet!
Such a tough question! I think the teddy bear is a great suggestion (mine is named Stitches and was a crib present). Along with my wedding ring, I have a handkerchief from Dad's side of the family and a ring from Mum's and that's about it in the way of family heirlooms so both feel like strong contenders. I feel like I'm going to be pondering this for some time...
OMG, Julia. You still have Stitches. We are going to need to see a photo! xo Only another historical fiction writer would adore a handkerchief, right? I even giving my characters hankies to use so I can imagine how special a real one would feel. I love when they're embroidered with a character's initials, too. Very sweet. I love these ideas.
I carried the handkerchief on my wedding day (my dress had pockets!), and when both of us started crying, I pulled it out and offered it to my soon-after husband!
You stumped me with this when we discussed last week but I think it is my undergraduate thesis. I spent my whole senior year of college researching and writing it, and I don't have a digital copy anymore (it was on some old hard plastic MacBook "floppy" disc at some point, but that was 27 years ago!)
That is so INTERESTING. You need to share what the topic was. I'm so curious!!
It was called "Transylvania, National Heartland?: The Construction of a Symbolic Territory in Hungarian and Romanian Nationalism" and was about the two countries' conflicting claims over Transylvania as their "cradle of birth." I used to be intellectual. But also funny, the first line was: "The following has nothing to do with vampires."
Oh no, Brooke! You'll have me walking around my house looking all night. Like you, I am not attached to possessions.... prefer books, ideas, people, but I have a feeling I would gravitate to a gold bracelet of my mothers', some earrings my husband gave me, my mother in law's flat gold circle with her initials that I don't ever wear. They would act as a way to hold on to a memory, physically in contact with me. Of course my own memoir, all my writing! Yesterday I was going through presentations, conversations everywhere about At the Narrow Waist of the World and my other writings and saw my life going by. Years of my life, something that would help me hold on to that.
Oh Marlena. I can see you wandering the house, too. It's funny to reassess all of your belongings in this way. I love the idea of a gold bracelet of your mother's being prized. I often think about family heirlooms being passed down and it's interesting because I wonder if my children will value some of these things as much as I do. I suppose that's part of our job as parents, telling them the stories and keeping alive the memories and connection to the past so they can feel the heartbeat of those that came before them. How lovely!
This is such an interesting question, Brooke. I can't even begin to answer it off the top of my head. Although...last night as I was searching for earplugs, a piece of paper dropped out of an old book that had been in my bedside table. It as an index card, dated August of 2010. When my son was small, I used to write down things he said on index cards, along with the date and the context. He was 5 years old at the time. I'm not sure why this index card was in the bedside table, as most of them are in a box, but the first thing that came to mind when I read the question was these index cards.
By the way, we have beach photographs all over our house. I realized one day that all of the photographs in our living room are of beaches. This wasn't by design. I just love the water and happen to love photographs of beaches around the world. When I'm in a different country, if I come across a photo of a local beach in a small shop, my eye is drawn to it.
When we lived in Paris, we had three black-and-white photos hanging above our living room sofa: all photos I had taken of one of my favorite beaches in the world, Montara State Beach, which is just a few miles from us.
We don't have a Gray Malin photo, but I can see why that would be a prized possession!
This was a lot harder than I thought. At first, I was sure it was a painting, then I remembered a coat, but it really boiled down to a pair of earrings.
They were given to me by my sister,.
They belonged to an amazing woman that I knew most of my life that was taken from us all to soon
When I wear them, I feel empowered !!
They are definitely my favorite possession.
I noticed other people mentioning heirlooms here. In fact, will show these pieces to my granddaughters later this month to emphasize the connections w/other generations.