Day 82 - Chunk of Carpet from my Boyhood Bedroom (Throw ... Sadly)

This is one of the few momentos from my childhood that I remember holding onto. I knew it was around here somewhere, I just wasn't sure what box it was in.  My oldest brother, Ryan, and I shared a bedroom as kids.  There was his side and there was my side and I was strictly forbidden to cross over to his side - even when he went off to college.  (On weekends home from Purdue he would carefully inspect his side of the room for evidence that I had trespassed.)

Once we were both out of the house, my parents turned it into the guest bedroom.  They painted over the robin's egg blue walls (still my favorite color), tore down the bed my Dad had made for us, tore up the carpet and then proceeded to make the room all girly instead. 

I must have caught them in the act because I managed to snag a piece of the old carpet before they threw it out.  I saved it because I'm sentimental like that (not "girly" as my wife calls it) ... and because it was unique carpet, at least for a bedroom.  I was too young to remember the circumstances of its installation, but it didn't take me too long to figure out that it was outdoor carpet.  My family was far from rich and outdoor carpet was a lot cheaper and SO much more durable!

It's not like I have particularly happy memories associated with the carpet itself.  Just the opposite.  There was no padding beneath it and it inflicted MONSTER rug burns!  I mean, you didn't even have to go sliding on your knees to get a burn - just crawling around on all fours without the benefit of jeans was enough to draw blood!  Outdoor carpet like this is slightly softer than your average cheese grater.

So why did I keep my little square of sadistic floor covering all these years? 

I guess that's what psychoanalysts are for.

But I threw it away last night ...

Well ... not all of it.  When the moment of truth came, I couldn't bring myself to toss it in the trash can.  Then I realized that I didn't really have to throw it all away ... just most of it.  So I cut out a two inch by two inch square to keep. 

It doesn't take up much space.

Anybody got the number of a good psychoanalyst?