Souvenirs

I'll admit it.  I'm a souvenir kind of girl.

The last couple of times I've stayed in a hotel with illicit activities as my intent, it was a place that had metal doors, and used magnets rather than those cute little 'do not disturb' signs that go over the doorknob.  I have two of those magnets on my refrigerator as we speak. One says "Later, please...".  The other, which I unashamedly stole right off the the unattended maid's cart outside the room the morning I left says "Pet in Suite."

Well, there certainly was that weekend. Question is: was it me, or was it him? /smirk

A few months ago, I went through a box of souvenirs I've been carting around for 10 or more years.  90% of that box went into the trash.  Some of it, I lovingly re-read or smelled before I pitched it, but I pitched it just the same.

I keep things because I enjoy remembering.  I enjoy looking back fondly.  I enjoy running across a movie ticket or a matchbook and being transported out of my busy, stressful life into a moment that maybe is less busy and less stressful and fills my heart with laughter and turns the corners of my lips up ever so slightly into a seductive, lascivious grin. I've even been known to leave a few behind for someone; a pair of panties in a jacket pocket, a spray of perfume on a suitcase; a note stuck inside a briefcase....

But everything has an expiration date; a point where it either has lost 'that lovin' feeling' or just doesn't bring back enough of that grin to warrant keeping it around.

 That's why I have a mostly empty keepsake box.

But there are other kinds of keepsakes.  Some, like bite marks and scents, that fade pretty quickly.  Some like a vivid memory of a specific point in time that grow less vivid over time. 

And then there are some that last far beyond their expiration date, to our delight or dismay.  Songs fit into this category for me.  There are songs that even know I will turn off the radio rather than listen to, and some that I will crank up even though the relationship that accompanies the memories in my head has long since gone to seed.  "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers is one that gets cranked up.  It's been a favorite song of mine since high school and brings me back to a very specific point in time that now makes me smile. 

Souvenirs don't always have to fit in a box.  Call me sentimental, but I will always keep them until they expire.

And don't even get me started on photographs.....