Someone asked if I collected things. It got me to thinking. I even collect people! Here are some of the things I’ve amassed over the years. And let me add, this is hardly scratching the surface.
I’ve collected:
- 1 husband, 1 daughter, 2 sons, 1 son-in-law, 1 daughter-in-law, 2 granddaughters, 2 grandsons, and 1 as yet unborn grandson.
- 3 brightly colored laundry baskets to replace 1 with broken sides, 1 with broken handles, and 1 with a hole in the bottom.
- 2 sets of flatware (service for 8 each), minus 5 forks (a disastrous picnic I will never forget) and 2 knives (bent when sons were ’sword-fighting’).
- 2 bent iced tea spoons (hard ice cream)
- Too many wrinkles to count or think about
- 7 partially used jars of wrinkle cream. These creams don’t work! — Wait… maybe that’s where the wrinkles come from. Let me go read those labels 1 more time.
- 3 tubes of lipstick with a little bit left in the bottom, and a few of those tiny paddles used to dig it out with. In a drawer. In another room. Somewhere.
- 67 spools of thread (in colors I don’t even wear, LOL)
- 1 worn-out broom
- 1 worn-out mop
- Various porcelain sheep and lambs in different poses. 1 had its legs glued back on after they were broken off years ago, when the boys got into a fight in the living room. They put it back together and never said a word. But — they didn’t glue it, so the first time I dusted and picked it up… Imagine my surprise when the legs stayed behind! Imagine the talking to they got! Yeah. Not for breaking something. Life happens. Glass breaks. But for being deceitful.
- A list of friends’ names in my email address book. Some of these friends I’ve never seen face to face, but they’re as dear to me as sisters.
- Last but not least, a box full of mismatched socks whose mate the dryer-monster ate. Surely, some day, they’ll show up. Probably as soon as I throw out that box…
So, what kinds of things have you collected over the years?

While trying to decide on a topic for the blog, I scrolled through some of the previous posts to get a feel for what’s already been said so I wouldn’t repeat or rehash old news. What I discovered when reading posts written by former and current military personnel, is that while I’m very much a supporter of the amazing men and women of the US Military, and while I’ve read extensively about what they do, how they do it and why they do it, there is nothing in my background or experience that could ever truly make me understand the military way of life.