Day 24 - Odds and Ends (Throw)

I found a round tin with a Norman Rockwell print on the lid and inside was a shrine of sorts to my childhood and teen years.  I couldn't bring myself to part with a toy car, a "God's Nightcrawler" patch, a Cincinnati Reds ring (which my Dad bought for me at a Reds game back when Pete Rose played for them - I remember sitting through a game where some drunk guy a few rows up from us continually yelled, "Pete Rose is a hamburger!" ... I never figured out if that was supposed to be an insult or compliment.), an old pocket knife, a wallet from the University of Aberdeen (Scotland), a little woven art project I entered in some contest when I was 14, and a button that says "Urbana '87".  The Urbana Conference I attended as a college sophomore was the first time I ever considered the possibility of becoming a missionary.  At the time it was just a thought ... a daydream, maybe.

Here's a list of other items from the tin that didn't make the cut:

• Various ink pens ["Outdoor Ministries", "Wabash College", "Newscenter 13", "Adam's Mark Hotel"]
• 3 Dried up boutonnieres [Labeled as "Senior Prom 1986" (lame night), "May Festival 1986" (dumbest night of my high school career), and "Jeanne Kirkpatrick Dinner 1987" (where Masato Suzuki gave the former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. bunny ears for a photo and also told several of his female professors that they looked quite "arrogant" rather than "elegant"!)]
• A single one inch square tile from the Wabash College pool [Where I worked as a swim coach for a year]
• A "Skylab" sticker
• A live bullet (!) [From gopher hunting in South Dakota]
• A pack of sugar from "The Berghoff" in Chicago [That must have been the art guild trip where I shared a hotel room with Scott and Larry.  Scott dared Larry to strip to his underwear, stuff a pair of socks in the front and step out into the hallway.  Larry took the bait.  When Larry stepped out the door, Scott slammed it shut and locked it!]
• A mood ring [It is now just solid black]
• A rubber dinosaur
• Miniature post cards - some from New York City and some of the Columbia space shuttle
• A match book from Mr. Gatti's Pizza in Crawfordsville, Indiana
• A couple of name tags from Youth Annual Conference [On the back is listed who went along from my church.  1985: Byron Brown, Kate Stubbs and Pat Kyle.  1986: Kim Stone, Dawn Stevens, Yvonne Bradburn, my brother Russell, and Marcia Kuhn.]
• A card with my Scottish address my junior year of college [Wavell House T21, Hillhead Halls of Residence, Don Street, Aberdeen AB9 2WU, Scotland]
• A vial full of white sand [From Florida, I think.]
• The tassel from my high school graduation in 1986

Amazing how many memories these objects bring back - and I guess that's why I kept them.  My kids were fascinated with each little item I brought out of the tin - and they made off with a couple of things before I could throw them away! 

It's funny how a packet of sugar brings to mind the sheer joy Scott and I shared watching Larry through the peephole as he danced around in the hallway of a Chicago hotel, frantically pounding on our room door and cursing because he had nothing but his underwear ... and a pair of socks. 

Also amazing to me is how I quickly vacillate between determination to toss these items and reluctance to toss them.  It makes it a bit easier to toss them knowing that they are recorded here, because words are somehow just as good (or better) than the physical objects themselves.