I'm not usually sentimental

I'm not known for being very sentimental or nostalgic. In fact, my husband thinks that I am cold-hearted in the regard that I am fine to throw things away that he thinks carry with them some memory or emotion. I just love to clean out my house. And that almost always trumps any touchy-feely emotions. Sometimes I watch that disturbing show Hoarders and I am just blown away. Simply put, I do not understand. I would be a very bad therapist in dealing with this disorder and the people, but I would certainly be the one to call to help clean the stuff out and organize the house!

So one backstory to explain why I am blogging about this: (I always think of Dr. Doofenshmirtz from Phineas & Ferb telling Perry the Platypus his backstory to explain why he made his current "inator". But maybe I spend too much time watching children's television shows...)

Okay, so back to the backstory. Yesterday night we were cleaning out Brian's closet and it reminded me of an incident that happened a couple years ago. I was going through our house de-cluttering and I ended up in Brian's closet. I found Brian's really nasty old shoes that he wore as a missionary for our church. Because they were so gross and he hadn't worn them in over three years, I saw no need to keep them and threw them away. Brian came home and noticed them in the trash and was mortified that I would have thrown them away and he wondered what else had I been throwing away and was just was never caught doing it! Oops. I didn't see why he was making such a big deal out of it. He explained to me that when he sees his shoes that he remembers the great experiences of his mission. We made A Family Rule (In our family, Brian and I are allowed to each make one rule each year that we will then have to follow for the rest of time) that I am not allowed to throw his things away without his permission. Though I may not have this same attachment to things, I am learning to accept that my husband does. And I try to control my urge to purge the house!

So back to the point of this blog entry. I do have a few things that I have some feelings for and will always keep. One of those things is this adorable rocking chair that James is sitting in. My grandmother gave it to me when I was a young girl and my mom recently mailed it to me to have in my home.

It fits him perfectly! I am grateful to have this piece of furniture in my home and to be able to pass it down to my children. Another item that I hold dear is my spoon collection of my ancestors bearing my name Christina. In my family there is a matriarchal tradition to pass down the name Christina to the first daughter along with the spoon collection. I am the seventh generation Christina and I feel honored to carry on the name and I hope to pass the legacy down to my daughter. And I think I will give this chair to James and he can pass this down through his family. All of this to say is that I do have some sentiments, just not as many as most people.