[quote]MartyMonster wrote:
Awesome![/quote]
Pic of same. (Yellow sticky to remove my last name.)
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
[quote]theuofh wrote:
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
Pa’s Luger. [/quote]
Did he take that from a dead Nazi? [/quote]
Most likely. He was in a lot of heavy fighting, including the Battle of The Bulge, and didn’t talk much about the war. He had a lot of other souvenirs, like an SS paratrooper helmet, that he traded away to rear-echelon guys for cartons of cigarettes that are now worth a small fortune.[/quote]
Good shooting, Tex! Ha. I really shouldn’t be like that.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
[quote]theuofh wrote:
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
Pa’s Luger. [/quote]
Did he take that from a dead Nazi? [/quote]
Most likely. He was in a lot of heavy fighting, including the Battle of The Bulge, and didn’t talk much about the war. He had a lot of other souvenirs, like an SS paratrooper helmet, that he traded away to rear-echelon guys for cartons of cigarettes that are now worth a small fortune.[/quote]
Man-o-man… That’s a pretty awesome thing man, with some serious history attached to it.
I think that pistol might be worth some cash too, but much more to you and I assume your kids too.
[quote]Jewbacca wrote:
[quote]MartyMonster wrote:
Awesome![/quote]
Pic of same. (Yellow sticky to remove my last name.)[/quote]
Thanks for sharing that Jewbacca. Truly moving.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
So most of us here have seen the movie Fight Club and some have probably read the books and we all know the clever quote that “the things you own end up owning you.”
That said we all have inanimate objects that we’re fond of, for sentimental reasons or whatever. So post a picture of your favorite things. No people or pets, unless they’re dead and stuffed.[/quote]
Wait, so if I had someone stuffed, that counts … right?
Truthfully, there isn’t much for me. I’ve never been much of a materialist, and I’ve never had enough money to spend in order to be a proper one anyway.
There are things I’m fond of - I have pictures of me with Roy Jones and Micky Ward and Kelly McCann - but the memory of meeting them surpasses what the image can capture.
If there was one thing that I could say I’d truly regret losing, it would be a sterling silver medallion of the saint I was named after. It isn’t very expensive or ornate, but it was blessed by a bishop at my confirmation and it’s quite literally been with me through thick and thin - in gyms and fights and trips and fishing on the Atlantic and camping in the mountains. There is something about it that I can’t quite put my finger on that is important to me.
That’s about it. Otherwise, my fists and tattoos are generally enough when it comes to things I value.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
I’ll start. I’m into blacksmithing, and amassed a small collection of anvils. I got this on two years ago, it is a french pig and weighs about 300lbs. I had planned on using it myself if and when I ever got my shop finished, but I was recently told that it is worth a lot of money. Too much for me to pound on it. So I decided to sell it. But it’s been sitting in my living room for 2 years and I’ve grown oddly attached to it, and will hate to see it go.[/quote]
That’s pretty awesome. I always wanted to get into blacksmithing. I did it in metal shop and loved it when I was in high school.
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
I’ll start. I’m into blacksmithing, and amassed a small collection of anvils. I got this on two years ago, it is a french pig and weighs about 300lbs. I had planned on using it myself if and when I ever got my shop finished, but I was recently told that it is worth a lot of money. Too much for me to pound on it. So I decided to sell it. But it’s been sitting in my living room for 2 years and I’ve grown oddly attached to it, and will hate to see it go.[/quote]
That’s pretty awesome. I always wanted to get into blacksmithing. I did it in metal shop and loved it when I was in high school.[/quote]
I love it, but I’m an absolute beginner. Very very few can make a living at it, but if I could make enough money off the occasional sale to buy more coal and stock I’ll be happy.
[quote]Dr. Pangloss wrote:
Got divorced in 2008.
Material objects that once seemed to embody so many of my goals and aspirations became meaningless overnight.
Sold everything except my clothes and books.
[/quote]
Nope. This probably isn’t about the fallout from the divorce at all. The divorce just hurried it along. It’s a maturity thing that hopefully would have happened anyway. Growth, in a positive way. We’re about the same age I think. Over time, I’ve become more interested in simple things, family and friends, enjoying the ride and all that. A good book and a nice cup of tea. I said something similar to this on Bird’s thread.
Anyway, your stuff should have less meaning to you as you gain life experience. Not that it isn’t nice to have quality things. I find that I value quality and craftsmanship, or things that someone handmade for me more now. Or things that have some personal meaning or nostalgia. And believe me, I’m not very sentimental about most things.
[quote]Jewbacca wrote:
[quote]MartyMonster wrote:
Awesome![/quote]
Pic of same. (Yellow sticky to remove my last name.)[/quote]
That is the nicest thing that you have that. Priceless. I think you win this thread.
This doesn’t compare, but I have a collection of family photographs in my dining room. My Irish immigrant great-grandmother up there on top, with my Canadian great-grandfather in his WWI uniform. She was living in London when they met. He was stationed there during WWI. She immigrated to North America with him and never saw her family in the UK again. I remember her as a girl, and I look quite a bit like her. She had this long brown hair that leaned to auburn like mine, and she always kept it up in on her head like a crown of braid. I got my height and green eyes from her too. She’s my first relative on that side to come to the US.
And there’s a picture of my grandfather in his US Army WWII uniform, and in his jockey silks back in the 1930’s. I have family members who fought in every American war from the Revolutionary War to the present. And cousins who are serving now. These kind of family history things have meaning for me.
EDITED.
One of my favorite things is an Acoma seed pot. Part of a collection. Reminds me of home. And the big one is the first piece of art we purchased, and it seemed like a lot of money at the time.
Otherwise, most things that have meaning for me are for their sentimental value or because they’re handmade by someone I love. Baby quilts my mother handmade, the wedding dress she sewed and hand beaded with tiny seed pearls. A fireplace mantle my husband made and then his little brother did travertine tile work below for us. A poem I wrote about my middle daughter that an artist friend took and embellished with beautiful angel wings behind and had it framed for me. That sort of thing.
Like Deb, I do like nice wood things, and nice things made of leather. Things from nature. I’m not a big jewelry person. My taste in stuff for the house is minimalist and toward the masculine so I don’t do a lot of little figurines and whatnots. Clean lines. No clutter. Books. And nice tools, like I have quality knives and scissors for every purpose, a boar bristle hairbrush, and nice makeup brushes. I will buy the best I can afford for things that are useful and last forever. I have a collection of high heels, but they aren’t something I’d run through a burning house for. There are very few things in this world that I couldn’t walk away from.
Edited
I have a pair of 125 yr old North & Judd Hercules bronze spurs my grandpa gave me that he had bought used in the 40s when he rode broncs. That’s probably my most valuable, but my prize possession is my 1956 Belgian made Browning Sweet 16.
Some moving and touching stories here!
I pondered for far too long about what would make me upset if I were to lose/misplace it. I really could not think of anything. I’ve had things given to me that perhaps should be sentimental but are not.
It’s slightly bothersome that I don’t have anything of sentimental value.
[quote]Yogi wrote:
I love you Pangy
[/quote]
I love you too, Yogi.
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
No people or pets, unless they’re dead and stuffed.[/quote]
Do horses count? I love my horses and would go into a burning barn for them.
Otherwise, I don’t have anything care about to any degree.
I do have a single action .45 Schofield (top break revolver) that my great-great grandfather allegedly got when, um, forcibly disagreeing with a US Cavalry officer of which I am rather fond.
The officer and his buddies (or someone) are buried in five informally marked graves at the edge of my land just into the reservation. Since I was a little boy, I’ve always been a little tempted to pull off the stones and check who is there, but it struck me as disrespectful.
[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:
[quote]Uncle Gabby wrote:
No people or pets, unless they’re dead and stuffed.[/quote]
Do horses count? I love my horses and would go into a burning barn for them.
Otherwise, I don’t have anything care about to any degree.
I do have a single action .45 Schofield (top break revolver) that my great-great grandfather allegedly got when, um, forcibly disagreeing with a US Cavalry officer of which I am rather fond.
The officer and his buddies (or someone) are buried in five informally marked graves at the edge of my land just into the reservation. Since I was a little boy, I’ve always been a little tempted to pull off the stones and check who is there, but it struck me as disrespectful.
[/quote]
I’m talking more about inanimate objects. It’s natural to bond with a horse or dog or other social animal, but when it comes to a thing the bond is usually more about the history or experiences behind it.
Great story about the Schofield. I’ve always thought they were the most attractive revolvers ever made.
[quote]debraD wrote:
… Watches are beautiful though. If there was anything that made me wish I was a man, it would to get to have all the beautiful watches. They just don’t make the really cool ones for women.
[/quote]
I think so too. Form marries function. And craftsmanship. You can appreciate them from the pure design aspect, but then they have these precision mechanisms. And some are really old but will still work. The ones I tend to like most are more masculine. I guess that’s part of the appeal, too. But, no. I’m not a watch collector either, but I see why people are drawn to them.