Sometime in elementary school, I borrowed a book about dogs from a friend. When I swore I’d give it back I really meant it but over time we both forgot. I didn’t find it until years later in a box under my bed. At this point, my friend had moved away and I had no way of giving it back. For all I know I still have it sitting in storage somewhere.
I sometimes think about all the things I don’t remember losing as a child. A book I lent to a friend that I never got back or a stuffed animal left at a hotel. All the little things that I never remembered. Now I feel like I have a much greater appreciation for my stuff. I feel like having stuff as a child was a short-lived sense of maturity while now having stuff feels like an investment. I may not have appreciated my toys enough to remember losing them, but now I feel like I’d be hard-pressed to give up my good frying pan.
Image: Simer Haer/The Cascade
