New Year Part 2... Grief over Stuff

Well this was more than a few days after the first post, but then I suppose you are used to that by now. I thought a lot about the things I want to accomplish in 2023 and I am already badly behind.

The great calamity on last XMas day took a lot of things. My daughter lost many of her stuffies and a few memories. My partner lost some books and items and memories.

And me? Yeah. I lost a great deal of memories. More than the stuff itself, it is the great memories that came along with the stuff. The pic is from a box full of books that are all lost. It was a heavy box to begin with and when they got wet, it became impossible to move.

I wanted to be a coward and not look into the box, but since the box had to go and it was too heavy to move in one piece, I had to open the box up. The game book, for Star Fleet Battles, is almost 40 years old. I have had it since 1984. I had the whole box set of the Commander's Edition. I played the hell out of that boxed set. Hundreds of hours of reading the rules and the setting material.

I bought that box at The Hobby Shop in Jumpers Mall in Pasadena, MD. In those days hobby shops sold trains, miniatures, models, and yes games. I was a regular customer there for 18 years, maybe longer. When you are a lonely kid, books and game books are your friends. I remember the adults who ran the store and they knew me, at least as a kid and young man. Maybe not by name but by sight. I have the memories still, but the things associated with those memories are gone.

I need to stop and recognize my privilege here. I lost stuff. I did not lose my cats or my partner or my child. I am fortunate that friends have helped us get back on our feet.

I realize need to do better about taking care of what is important. I could have and should have protected those items. Packed them in good bins and stored them outside of the small apartment. If it is true that we make our own luck, then the luck I made for myself was bad. Going forward the luck I make for myself needs to be the good kind. Taking care of what matters is the biggest goal for 2023.

Next time, more fun author crap! No more doldrums.

~Ciao!