the forever files

are there a few things you have that you've had forever? i get a secret pleasure out of those items in my life. one of the first that comes to mind is this pair of mocassin-style winter boots. i wear them into the ground every winter, and to freshen them up after year 4, i snipped off the dangling pom-poms that had started to look a little ratty. each year when it's time to break them out, i'm happy to see them again - like an old friend you see each year when the season brings you together at camp or your favorite vacation spot.

the fact that i bought them at payless almost ten years ago for under $20 makes it that much more thrilling. i've bypassed the entire uggs phase because i could never justify buying a pair that would serve the exact same purpose as the ones i already have, and truly, i've been perfectly happy with mine.

exhibit b: my alarm clock has been with me since my senior year of high school. same clock i used to set for 6:46 every morning. it's seen so many homes - my bedroom at my parents' house, two dorm rooms, one sorority house room, one college apartment room, my bedroom at my parents' house again (and then again), my single girl city apartment, the first bedroom that mitchell and i shared and the second, and now the third. the same clock! part of the thrill with that one is just that it's lastest this long...(and why don't i have an ipod or cell phone that can claim the same thing?)

little things mean a lot, and for me, the boots and the clock are two of those things. they are remnants of earlier roads i've walked, earlier steps on my journey, and though i don't always think of them this deeply, i smile whenever i realize their longevity and i suspect the thrill comes from a place deeper than frugality or efficiency.

i fully plan on getting a new pair of boots one day (preferably ones that keep my feet dry as well as warm) and mitchell bought me a new alarm clock with all kinds of meditative sounds and settings which is more fitting of my life and goals today. but these things will be with me for a long time still, tucked away on a shelf or in a closet; i never know when i'll need to walk a mile in my old shoes, or be in need a wake-up call (at 6:46 or any other time); i never know when i'll need a backup or a change of pace or just a sweet reminder of a different time.

what have you had forever?