During a “hectic” day of errands, I stopped by the refrigerator for some leftovers. I often do that, but fail to take the time to look at all the magnets that we have collected in nearly 20 years of travel. Even though I’ve been traveling a lot longer than that, the tradition of collecting magnets is my wife’s project. She will buy postcards and magnets at each location we visit. The postcards are for her 96-year old mother. Apparently, assisted-living facilities are a lot like going to camp as a kid. You don’t want to be left out when it’s time for the daily “mail call,” so my wife sends her short messages on these cards every day to remind her that we are always thinking of her no matter where we go. She will accumulate a stockpile of these postcards and address them every night to fill-in between her prompt twice-a-week phone calls.

The magnets stick to the outside of our kitchen refrigerator, although we have lived in places where the surface was not magnetic. In these cases, they would attach to a washer & dryer or accumulate in a drawer. Regardless, there are now hundreds of these magnetic memories in our current kitchen. As meticulous as my wife tends to be, I’m still surprised that she allows this “clutter” in her kitchen. To me, it’s like putting a bunch of bumper stickers on a Mercedes. “I’ve been to Wall Drugs” or “my other car is a Rolls.” However, I’m also grateful that she’s found an inexpensive way to souvenir shop, because we’re not wealthy enough to buy a diamond in every port.

It is fun to read these magnets, and recall the memories of being there. There’s one from every city & state we’ve lived in, amusement parks, Broadway shows, every famous monument we’ve visited, popular regional sayings, and humorous quotes. She also collects Limoges boxes, Disney pins, Broadway cast posters, Playbills, and signed cookbooks to preserve her memories. Since we both once worked for an NBC Television affiliate, she once had an impressive assortment of peacocks. We left them behind when she moved to a competitor, and have thought about now collecting foxes. I still have a strained-glass peacock in my office that was a gift to us from a former engineer, who had it custom-made by an Illinois craftsman. I’m much worse than my wife when it comes to collecting, a passion that’s grown since retirement. (See Post #146).

Everyone probably has a collection of something, and many of these items become great investments. For example, my grand- daughter likes snow globes, while my son gathers plastic collector cups. When I watch American Pickers, I’m always amazed when collecting turns to hoarding. Fortunately, we don’t have a barn where rusty junk tends to somehow reproduce, as “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Magnets are at least easy to move, as has been the case with our media careers. They don’t take up much space and they’re the least expensive item in any gift shop. Furthermore, as a recent retiree, I’m in to downsizing as opposed to adding possessions. As far as my mother-in-law is concerned, who once ruled the antique auctions and was forced to diversify, I just hope she’s not saving every postcard my wife is sending.