I grew up poor, when I had kids and they got into collecting, I was down. We worked at collecting Pepsi cans for the Star Wars pics, we collected fast food kid meal toys, Beanie Babies, Hot Wheel cars, and “cool guys” from Goodwill, the list goes on and on. I loved being a collector for the kids but my personal collection is different.
Being poor meant I didn’t have a lot of physical stuff. And as a kid and my stuff got stolen a lot, tough times all around, it was hard to keep anything. So I started writing. Mostly my own stories at first because I have that complex PTSD, and I don’t retain memories especially stressful ones, say from childhood on…. I also would write poetry, stories, plays, record memories, all on paper later in journals or notebooks. Nobody wanted my words!
So my stories became part of my memory and I could keep those. I also started collecting other/others words and phrases; say in books, film, art, everywhere anywhere. I love language. The way other people feel and think, how they record it, so super cool!
My son still collects all manner of comic stuff, I still hunt for him, even after all these years. But my collection is in memories and words.
Words Baby! Got to go catch some more words !!!!!!!

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