I'm a Pepper

About 15 years ago I had a shirt similar to this. It was white with red lettering and also way too big for me but I loved wearing it. It was really old, really worn out and so thin that it was pretty much see-through. It was also really soft and super comfortable. For some reason I want to say that it originally belonged to my Grandfather (it was probably just my mom or dad's shirt). But the reason I loved the shirt so much was because I thought I was wearing something of my Grandfather's. I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him in this earth life, but everything I remember about him remains a good memory. He had white hair, a big belly, tattoos, a deep voice and a kind heart.  I was just a little kid but I knew he loved me.  He was a perfect Grandfather.

A few years ago a friend of mine and my brother's noticed something similar about her two Shumway friends. She said that we hold a lot of meaning in certain personal items, which everybody does but we make it all seem more important. I thought about this for a while and realized it's very true. I don't have a lot of extra junk laying around, and most of the possessions that follow me from house to house, year to year, hold a special meaning to me. After thinking about my reasoning for a long time I came up with two conclusions to why I give importance to physical objects. I definitely take good care of everything I own and I keep it for a long time, until it is broken and unfixable. Maybe that's because my parents taught me the value of a dollar and having something to call my own was a privilege. Or perhaps it's because my family moved around so much while I was growing up that I associate memories with physical items. Since I haven't grown up with the same friends and the same town my whole life I take a little piece of them with me when I leave. Or maybe there's another reason.  What do you think?

The other day Jake made a really cool gift for one of his friends. He held it up and said, "This is awesome, I want to keep it." I think those are the best kind of gifts to give and receive, ones with feeling behind them. I remember visiting a friend a long time ago and telling her how beautiful I thought one her table lamps looked. She said, "You really like it that much? It's yours!" I've enjoyed that lamp for over ten years now. I don't need gifts from people and I don't need them to have some crazy creative idea to impress me. I just figure that if I'm going to have "stuff," it may as well have special memories of friends and family connected to it. Even when I haven't corresponded with good friends for long periods of time, it's nice to think that there's a little piece of them hanging out around me. Does that sound too serial killer-ish? This really turned into a million tangents. What I'm trying to say is, I feel lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life and anything that reminds me of them is worth keeping around.