A to Z Theme 2016

For my 2016 A to Z theme I used a meme that I ran across on the blog of Bridget Straub who first saw it on the blog of Paula Acton. This meme is a natural for me to use on my memoir blog. It's an A to Z concept and it's about me. No research and nothing complicated. I'm given twenty six questions or topics to discuss that are about me.

In April I kept my posts short and uncomplicated. In the midst of it all you might learn a few things about me that you didn't previously know.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hidden Treasures: A Pocket Full of Memories and More

English: A picture illustrating a flap pocket ...
English: A picture illustrating a flap pocket on a grey lounge suit jacket (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
         Over the past couple of months we've looked at all sorts of storage places where items that jog memories can be found.  That's been the purpose of this series.  Where do we find the inspirations and documentation that can help us to reconstruct the parts of our lives that we want to put into memoir form?  Rummaging through those places where we store the artifacts of our lives can be like a treasure hunt sometimes.  And sometimes the treasures can be found in odd and unexpected places.

          More than once I've heard the story of someone who buys an old coat at the thrift store and discovers money or something valuable in a pocket.   I'm sure you've heard those kinds of stories as well.  I've never found a true cache of value in the pockets of clothes hanging in my closet, but sometimes I wonder.

          I can recall times when I've had considerable amounts of cash that I've hidden in places where I figured no one would find it.  Paranoia can set in sometimes and I've done irrational things especially when money was  somewhat abundant.  I can be absent minded at times.  Sometimes I wonder if maybe I've hidden a wad of cash somewhere and have forgotten where I put it.  I get these strange feelings sometimes.

         Occasionally I'll find some change or maybe a dollar bill in a pocket.  No great find there, but these finds fuel my suspicions.  I've never gone through all of the clothes in my closets to undertake a grand search for lost treasure, but I'm pretty good about checking pockets if I'm putting my clothes in the laundry basket or giving them away to Goodwill.  It's unlikely that anyone would find money stashed in anything I donate.

        Now and then I'll find old receipts or something on paper that will bring back a memory of someplace I'd been the last time I wore an article of clothing--typically a coat or jacket.   If one has a lot of clothing this is not especially an unusual occurrence.   I have a lot more clothing than I ever wear or probably really need so finding things in coat pockets can happen.  Maybe I need to check a bunch of pockets and cart a load off to Goodwill?

         It's possible that one day I'll find something more interesting than an old receipt in a pocket.  In these days when money has been tighter I wouldn't mind finding a roll of bills absent-mindedly stashed in a pocket, a shoe, or some other long unworn wearable.  It could happen.  I just hope I'm the one who finds the treasure.

          Have you ever hidden money or other valuables in pockets of clothes hanging in your closet?   Have you ever found valuables in a pocket?   Have you used shoes as hiding places?   

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7 comments:

  1. When I worked in the used bookstore, you wouldn't believe the things I found in people's books, many after they'd already sold the books and taken off, so they could not be returned. I've seen naked photos of customers I recognize (eek!), read teen-age love letters, found old documents from hundred year-old school exams to slave ownership papers.

    Note to everyone: get the stuff out of your books!

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  2. I frequently leave credit cards in suit pockets and then panic when I can't find them. I've even cancelled a few. I do put change in my pockets as well and then am happy when I find the $3 or $10 later. I'm even happier when I find it in my husband's pockets! No memories though. Those are usually stuffed in drawers or boxes.

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  3. A couple times I've hidden money on jacket pockets and then forgot about it. Eventually, I find it.

    Hugs and chocolate,
    Shelly

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  4. My 86 y/o mother is so hyperparanoid about being broken into that she's constantly hiding stuff and forgetting where it is. It drives me crazy. I have little patience for it. She has been doing this for years and years. One of my friends found money stashed all over her mom's house after she died too. Must be that generation.

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  5. Before my mum-in-law passed, she told my husband all the hiding places in her apartment where he'd find some cash tucked away. When we started sorting through her things, we were stunned by how much she really didn't trust banks.

    I usually find ticket stubs in my pockets. Not worth much but I have triggered a nice memory or two.

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  6. Kelly -- I can imagine that. If I have anything stashed in a book it's usually something like a receipt or a ticket of some sort and that can bring back a memory. In some books I have from college I've found neatly folded Life Savers wrappers that I'd used as bookmarks.

    Thea -- My wife misplaces her credit card like that on occasion. Sometimes I'll run across change in pockets but no wads of bills yet.

    Shelly -- If I've hidden a substantial amount of cash in a pocket I think I've recovered it, and yet I have this nagging feeling...

    JoJo-- I've heard many stories about random stashes found after an older person passes.

    LD -- A lot of random cash could add up to a tidy sum!

    Lee


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  7. my husband and I stuck things in books too. We told our sons, when you are disposing of our stuff, please check thoroughly for little treasures.
    And i went through all the pockets of his clothing after he died, and found little treasures, proof he had been in those clothes.
    nice post.

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