Back in April we took the plunge, called DirecTV, and signed up for HD. Let me tell you, it was like falling in love with TV all over again. Which now explains why The Boyfriend and I have become hermits barely venturing out on the weekends.Of course this opening of a window, also meant the closing of a door. Getting high definition television signaled the end for our 19 inch RCA television, of indiscriminate age, we once had in our bedroom.
It's funny what people get sentimental about. Letting go of that RCA got both The Boyfriend and I a bit misty. One of his sisters gave him that TV when he went off to college. When he moved to Michigan, and in with me, he was able to fit all of his worldly possessions (including me, his girlfriend) in his old, beat-up Honda Civic. I remember how excited I was that he was bringing that TV with him to Michigan. 19 inches! A huge upgrade from the tiny 13 inch TV that got me through college. (As they say, you've come a long way baby!)
That TV sat in our living room for the five years we lived in Michigan. When we moved to California, we put it on a moving truck and we promoted it to Bedroom TV. Then our apartment went condo (bastards!), we moved again, and again that RCA found itself on a moving van.
Sure the colors were starting to bleed together, but I loved that TV. However, with the wonders of a new technological age, we had to bid farewell to that RCA. Believe me, we talked about hanging on to it, but The Boyfriend was ultimately right. Why? It can't handle an HD signal, and we weren't about to buy a set of rabbit ears for it. And Lord knows, the last thing we need is one more thing cluttering up our closets. Still, I shed a tear when I dropped off that old TV at the Goodwill loading dock.
Sentimental fool that I am.
While I love the shiny, new, flat panel LCD TV we bought for our bedroom this weekend, I miss that old RCA. I can't help it. I just do.
And while getting sentimental over a TV will probably strike some of you as a bit odd, I am not alone. Admit it. Y'all got something like this lurking in the dark recesses of your past. A T-shirt, old birthday card, piece of jewelry, your first car, something. I probably get a few points for originality (A TV? Seriously Wendy?!), but I'm curious about you all.
What inanimate object do you have a sentimental connection to?
12 comments:
My computer monitor! I know it sounds silly but I'd had it for so long and there was NOTHING wrong with it. But, hubby decided it was time for a LARGE and I mean HUGE flat screen monitor. Thank heavens the desk is roomy cuz I have to push it back so far on the desk just to focus! lol I miss my monitor. :(
A blanket I bought when I first went off to college 20 odd years ago. As a biology major with a fondness for big cats, the image of the lion on it seemed appropriate. Now my cat-loving daughter has it on her bed. The satin edging is gone and the colors have faded, but it's still as warm as ever. That may just be in my head, though ;)
I think I had that TV! I got rid of it for an LCD TV too--about 18 months ago. I LURVE IT. I don't miss the old one at all.
Inanimate objects. Sheesh um my kid's first pair of jeans (along with other sentimental baby stuff that probably shouldn't even count!), the short story I wrote in HS that I got an A on....rolling pins. Yes, rolling pins. They were my moms, grandmothers, great grandmothers and great aunt's pins :) and a can of Coors that was my grandfathers LOL
I'm a shy person, but when I read your post I knew I had to tell you about my sentimental inanimate object. It's a bubblegum pink heart-shaped wastepaper basket. It was a birthday gift from my sister when we were teens and I had finally gotten my own bedroom and a desk to study at. Sixteen years later and I not only still have that wastepaper basket, but it is in pristine condition as I only throw paper trash in it. Just looking at it makes me feel happy and think of good things.
Since I'm sentimental I could make a list of stuff, but your story brought to mind our first Christmas tree. It was a dumpy sad FAKE tree about 36" tall from KMart. We bought it the first year we were married because we'd just gotten married in late November and spent a ton of money on the wedding and couldn't afford more than that scrawny, dilapidated sad tree.
We kept it too. Our boys would put it up in their bedroom with more strands of lights than there were branches and often decorate it with their "guys" (action figures). About 5 years ago the stand finally cracked and broke and we had to put it in the dumpster.
We bought another small tree for the boys for their bedroom, but after that first year they never wanted to put one up again.
When we got rid of our fridge and stove I got misty eyed as well. I also keep around old t-shirts from summer day camp that have my name stamped on them. I can't make myself get rid of them. After all, why would anyone want a t-shirt that says Alie on it?
A Raleigh Super Course 10 speed bike which I got in 1974! I can't give it up.
Tracy: Missing a computer monitor is right up there with me missing a TV.
Cathy: I'm thinking back...dang I don't think I've kept anything really sentimental from college.
Amie: Yeah, baby stuff doesn't count. You're expected to be sentimental about that stuff! And rolling pins make sense, especially if you come from a family of kick-ass cooks. LOL on the can of Coors. We might have fallen out of the same family tree!
Laura: Dude, I wonder what I did with my pink wastepaper basket? It got me through college....but after that I'm wondering when I finally dumped it. Probably during our move cross country.
Rosie: I was telling The Boyfriend what people responded with and he agrees with me - your ratty-ass Kmart Christmas tree wins! Great story!
Alie: Now see, I've never been attached to appliances although my parents still use a 25+ year old microwave. They're probably slowing being poisoned to death by gamma rays LOL
Liz: I'd keep that bike to! Especially if it was still in good working condition.
I love my book collection. They are almost like my babies. I spend too much time with them. LOL!
Errr...I do still have my afghan that my grandmother gave me when I was born. 28 years and it's still holding together, bar a few fixes over the years.
Hey, it makes the perfect thing to tuck under my head when I'm reading at night. Pillows just don't have the flexibility.
I'm not real attached to electronics. I'm usually all about the latest and greatest (when I can afford it). I looooove HDtv and Directv. And don't you love that it comes with XM music? I love Squizz.
Dude, the reason I kept the wastepaper basket was because it was from my Twin sister who was all I had in the world when faced with abusive parents and an unstable childhood. I'm sorry now that I bothered to post a comment in the first place.
Laura: Huh? I'm sorry if one of the other comments offended you, but I'm drawing a blank here on why you're now "sorry you posted a comment."
If it's my story about my pink trash can, I'm sorry. I was just saying I used to have a pink one as well - but unlike yours, which you are sentimental about, I never got attached to mine and lost track of it. I wasn't saying it was "wrong" of you to have an attachment to yours.
I don't think it's "wrong" to be attached to something that means so much to you. I mean, hell, I got misty over giving up a stupid TV. I would certainly never intentionally throw stones over anyone else's treasured inanimate objects.
Post a Comment