COLLECTING--A PASSION!

Seeing how much my granddaughter loves collecting snow globes from around the world reminds me of my own passion for collecting things over the years.  I’ve loved watching her excitement at every new addition to her collection.  Most of the colorful globes have been gifts brought back from different cities by her dad. Some of them have also been purchased by friends and relatives traveling to different countries—Australia, Canada, Greece, Scotland, and Turkey.  What started out as a few simple snow globes from a variety of U.S. cities has expanded to twenty-five from around the world.  Who knows how many she’ll acquire by the time she leaves home and starts the next phase of her life.  One thing I’m almost certain of though--those unique and colorful globes will follow her everywhere, along with the joy and memories of unpacking them. 

My own early collecting days mostly centered on cards of famous baseball players.  I’m sure I drove my mother crazy with the hundreds of cards lying around and all the statistical analysis, even though she loved baseball too.  I wish I’d taken the cards with me when I moved out because they eventually disappeared.  I remember feeling quite heartbroken, but I shouldn’t have assumed that my parents had the same attachment to them that I did, as well as the space for preserving them.  But oh, how I’d love to have them to show my grandson today.  Watching him sort through his own baseball cards is like a walk back in time.  In addition, he gets really wrapped up in making elaborate statistical charts.  Sometimes he’s surprised that his grandma knows the latest stats on current stars, and not just in baseball.

The pin my Australian pen pal sent me fifty-one years ago

Another area of collecting that I’ve really enjoyed started when I was 12, inspired by an Australian pen pal.  She sent me a special pin, which I’ve treasured through the years.  I no longer have her letters or a current connection with her, but I’ll never give up that unique pin.  It also gave me an interest in collecting pins from other parts of the world. I just re-discovered my I LOVE LONDON pin, which seems especially fun now with the current London Olympics.  Wish I could be there and add to my collection.

And of course, being a book lover, I’m mad about bookmarks, especially leather ones. I love the kangaroo bookmark my special Australian friend recently sent me; I doubt that I would find it anywhere in the U.S.  There are two other bookmarks that are also very special.  One of them my English friend Angie bought for me inside Windsor Castle more than 20 years ago.  And the most unique U.S. bookmark I own is from the Redwood Library in Newport, Rhode Island.  That beautiful, historical library was established in 1747 and is the oldest lending library in the U.S. and still occupies the original building.  When you walk inside you feel surrounded by history.  To add to the charm, there was an absolutely delightful and gracious lady who was a volunteer in the small gift shop.  I think of her every time I use that bookmark. 

Finally, one of my favorite things in life is collecting quotes.  You could say I’m QUOTABLY HAPPY.  Here are a few to share, including my favorite, listed right below.

My mom and her lifelong friend Verna

            “Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved.  The real milestones are less prepossessing, stray dogs that amble in, sniff around a bit, and never leave.  Our lives are measured by these.”  (Susan B. Anthony)

            “Don’t compromise yourself.  You are all you’ve got.”  (Janis Joplin, American singer).

            “Why not seize the pleasure at once?  How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!”  (Jane Austin, English writer)

            “Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life and repeat to yourself the most comforting words of all:  This too shall pass.”  (Ann Landers, former American newspaper columnist)

            “Your children need your presence more than your presents.”  (Jesse Jackson)

            “I am part of all I have read.”  (John Kieran, American author)

            “When I was a ten-year old book worm and used to kiss the dust jacket pictures of authors as if they were icons, it used to amaze me that these remote people could provoke me to love.”  (Erica Jong, American author)

            “It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.”  (Albert Einstein)

            “Age is a question of mind over matter.  If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”  (Satchel Page, former legendary American baseball player)

            “In the end, nothing we do or say in this lifetime will matter as much as the way we have loved one another.”  (Daphne Rose Kingma, writer)

            “All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower, wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.”  (Abraham Lincoln)

            “Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.”  (Martin Luther King)

            “There are never enough I LOVE YOU’S.  (Lenny Bruce)

            “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”  (Julia Child)

And finally, here is one I especially love because it helps me view my own sometimes disorganized, chaotic life in a different manner:

            “Whenever there is chaos, it creates wonderful thinking.  I consider chaos a gift.”  (Septima Poinsette  Clark, educator and civil rights leader)

So whatever it might be that you enjoy collecting or feel passionate about, feel blessed and grateful and remember what the truly unique American actress Mae West once said, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”