No Regrets? by Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: last week Rhys had us talking about books. What we do when we have too many of them and how we make decisions about culling the herd. I’ve also done some “ridding out“ as my friend Yvonne would call it, of clothing and shoes. Already, I wish I could call a few things back that are long gone. We don’t have a lot of call to wear corduroy pants in Key West, but this winter we’re also going on a trip to a very cold portion of Europe. There was a pair of black wide wale corduroys that I hadn’t worn in years. They were ankle length, with a band around the bottom, almost a barrel shape. I wore them often, and I loved them, but I gave them away thinking I wouldn’t have opportunities to wear them again.  But now that it’s too late to summon them back, I miss them!

I also regret recycling my overalls. (See the photo at the top of me with my friend Carolyn.) I was in my late 20s when I moved from Tennessee to Florida to start graduate school. I wore those overalls nonstop which no doubt struck others in the clinical psychology department as peculiar. As I advanced farther along in the program, wearing overalls was less appropriate, and I gave them away. But now I see fashionistas wearing overalls everywhere. I miss that pair! 

I may have talked about this years ago, but I had a plastic bag of my favorite childhood stuffed animals. I collected cats that were covered with rabbit fur. They had names and lives and the games we played saw me and my sister through some unhappy times. In that bag were also several arms and legs from my mother’s Raggedy Ann dolls. Don’t know what happened to the other body parts! However, in Florida, my ex and I had a terrible infestation of roaches who ate the fur off of all those animals. I was finally talked into throwing them away. Now, the kicker…

Our local NPR station is soliciting people to bring unusual collections to their Audacious Live show and tell. They suggest things like a jar of cat whiskers—something unusual with meaning and a story behind it. I am positive that a baggie of bald stuffed animals and doll body parts would make a good conversation piece. However, they are gone and I’m filled with regrets.

How about you reds, any items that you disposed of but now regret? Or do you give things away and never look back? Do you have something 'special' you'd bring to that NPR show and tell?