Conference quark::mennotes

    Did the family member hold the family's most prized possession, or did
    each member hold his/her most prized possession?  A family's most
    prized possession might be different than an individual's...

    
    re .1

    From the report, I couldn't tell for sure either.  It sounded like
    one item for the whole family.  The family had to negotiate what
    item that would be.  The family in Mongolia couldn't decided so
    had to pose with two items.  The statue of Buddha and their TV.
    Mixed priorities? :^).

    fred();

IF it was my kids,, it'd be a telephone (13, and 15)

If it was my wife, it'd probably be nuthing, (She's such a
derned pureist)

If it was me, it'd be all five of my guitars...

(Possesion is such a material thang...)

    If it is me. Its my mini gym and my pick up truck.
    
    If it is my daughter its her new pet mouse, and Barbie doll.
    
    IF it is us as a family, it would be the home where we live. A 4 family
    apartment unit in the inner city of Nashua.
    
    

    
    For me, if the house were burning down, the one thing I'd have to try
    to get would be the cedar chest I built myself in shop class in the
    seventh grade.  The rest of it I could replace.  In evaluating things,
    I found that things I'd made myself were high on the list. Except
    for my trumpet, but that also has required a lot of personal work.

    For my wife, it would have to be her photo albums.  

    For the family, the most prized possession would be the house itself.
    We've all got a lot of personal work invested in it.

    fred()

    My 1985 Mazda RX7 that I purchased new, 182000 miles ago.
    
    I probably couldn't hold it though.
    
    ...Tom

The most irreplaceable thing I own is the record of all the chess games
that I've played in tournaments.  Monetarily my most valuable possession
is probably my collection of compact disks.

				-- Bob

    
    
    For me it has to be my three cats!!!
    
    Shaw

    CATS!
    
    
    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh CHoooooooooooooo!!!!!

    Maybe the heavy book I use for detering cats.  But probably any two
    feet section my book shelves.  My wife would probably take any two feet
    of her book shelves, my eldest would take any ten inches of her book
    shelves and the littlest would take a small, tattered and utterly
    discusting once fluffy grey bunny, together with a cloth bag that
    contains a collection of assorted jigsaw parts, lego, old boiled
    sweets, costume jewelry and little model trains, she calls these "her
    bits" - can't live without them.  (We get her to sleep with a cooker
    you know)
    
    r. Michael.

I actually had to make this decision back in 1978 when our apartment building
caught fire.  I quickly realized that the important thing was to get us and
our cats out alive.  We did that, and lost just about everything else we
owned.  Within minutes we saw flames shooting out our bedroom and living
room windows.  Afterwards, we were able to recover some dishes and glassware
from the kitchen, but the rest of the apartment was a pile of smoky rubble
two floors below.

It's many years and a new marriage later.  When I heard the NPR piece I tried
to think of what was my "most prized posession" and really couldn't come
up with anything.  Our cat is a family member, not a posession, so I don't
count him.  Other than that?  I dunno.  There are lots of things I'd hate
to lose (such as the picture of my father's father who died long before I
was born), but to try to pick a favorite?  That's tough.  It would have to
be something irreplaceable, so a TV or CDs wouldn't make it.  It would have
to be something I've had for a long time, and due to the fire (and the fact
that I have three younger brothers), I've got very little from prior to
1978.

If I had to pick something, it would be "the elephant table".  I've actually
had it less than a week, but it's a mate to one I lost in the '78 fire. 
A business associate of my grandfather (mother's side) gave a set of these
to my family - they're from Africa and made of cypress or some other unusual
wood.  Nesting under the oval-shaped main table are four wedge-shaped tables
whose pedestals are carved into the shape of an elephant.  (My wife and I
agree we need to find a turtle to go on top of it, but that's only because
we can't figure out how to put the elephants on a turtle's back instead.)
My mother has another one of these and the third had, after my grandparents
died, gone to my mother's husband's parents.  They recently died and my
mother decided to have their table sent to me.  It's hard to say why I'm
so attached to it - I didn't have my original for very long.

					Steve

    I would try to save my 1921 Gibson Mandolin and 1974 Martin Guitar and
    family pictures at the same time.  I treasure lots of other things
    but would be heartbroken to leave to lose those instruments.
                      Bill

    My 43 GMC deuce and a half, though I am becomming attached to my 44 Chev
    bomb truck.
    
    My house which I built
    
    Pictures of all kinds from yesteryear.
    
    Where I live
    
    Memories
    
    
    
    Steve

I saw an interesting story in the paper this weekend about a man whose
most valuable possessions were his personal journals, which he had written
over a period of twenty-odd years, and which were accidentally thrown out
with the trash.  He's spent months searching through the town dump trying
to salvage whatever he can.

				-- Bob

a question which i often ask myself, is, what would i take with me, if all
i could take, had to fit in a bag. my most prized possessions are all personal
items and to me, irreplacable at that, like the
- little sailing boat carved out of ivory, a present from "sister mary", a nun,
the head nurse of the children's ward where i spent much of my early childhood,
- the twenty year old T-shirt, with the statue of liberty and the american flag 
on it; my mum bought it for me when i was a teenager, when i was madly in love
with an american girl, my first love ... :-)
- a few dozen very important letters dating back to the teens until now,
- photographs to fill, say, two photo albums,
- the ash-tray we used to play with in our living room as kids,
- ...

i think we spend all our lives gathering our most valuable possessions. to me, 
the most valuable material possessions are the tokens which remind us of the 
more important things behind them.


andreas.

    
    my Arluk III sea kayak.

    re .13:
    
    Ah.  *That* explains the Notes personal name.  :-)
    

    Well, if we're not counting people and pets, I'd have to say that the
    two things that I'd be most crushed if they were burned/stolen/destroyed
    /what have you are: 
    
    a) the picture of my dad sitting on my wall unit (it's the most recent
    "Dad is healthy" picture I had of him prior to his death, and I don't
    know where the negatives are to replace it should it vanish)
    
    b) my car
    
    
    Cheers,
    
    kim

   fwiw,
   
   Many camera shops can create a negative from a print, so if you can't
   find the negatives and are concerned, or simply want to make copies,
   just ask... you will be pleasantly surprised at what camera shops can
   do for you ..
   
   - Tom

    My '20s inside-painted lamp collection (only two, but working on it...)

    MY KIDS... I'd gladly lose "everything" for each one of them.  Nothing
    that I own could even remotedly, replace any of them.
    
    MY HUSBAND - I could not have my kids if it were not for him! so I take,
    my husband and my kids and... everything else... could go to H***!
    
    Ana

re .21, hang on a second ana, that's cheating, .0 says "other family members
	don't count" ...


try again :-)

andreas.

    Re .22:
    
    PC flag on the play!
    
    Personal foul: claiming spouse as possession  :-)
    

<                    -< What is your most prized posession? >-

    This question really has 2 possible meanings:

1: What is most valuable to you, what would you save from the fire, things
	not replaceable at any price.

    Memories and the "things" I have which trigger them.

    In my case they would be photo albums and 2 printers boxes. The albums are
    a visual record of the 24 years since I was married, and the printers boxes
    hold baubles and trinkets collected from family, friends, and places we've
    been together.

2: What object brings you the most pleasure, but holds no particular sentimental
   value in and of itself, easily replaceable.

    I guess this would be my M1911A1 .45ACP. Designed by John Browning before 
    WWI for use by the horse soldiers, it has a rich history and provides me a
    shared experience with hundreds of thousands of military men over the last
    century from all around the world. It provides for me a sense of continuity,
    a connection to the past, unlike anything else I have.

    To me that firearm's sound is like a Harley sounds to a biker. Its fit and 
    feel in my hand is like a Hurst shifter to a drag racer. My appreciation 
    for its performance is not unlike a Grand Prix driver's for his Porche. 
    These sensations all come instantly together with every round sent on its 
    way down range; giving me hours and hours of pleasure "punching paper" and 
    then trying to figure out how to do it better.

    "those" are my most valuable assets! 
    HUSBAND, and KIDS...
     those are the most valuable assets to me. They are "things" not
    replaceable at any price! not with money, not with any assets, not with
    other people... not replaceable at all! and it is true that THEY are my
    most prized posession. (regardless of geography, or age)
    
    Ana

    The photo albums with my daughter's baby pictures, especially the ones
    with me and "Dad's Special Honey".