“Oh, The Places You’ll Go!”

Feb 20, 2016 | 1 comment

This is my new Samsonite carry-on suitcase. I picked it up last week during Kohl’s super sale.

"Oh, the places you'll go!" My new green suitcase.

“Oh, the places you’ll go!”

I was so excited I posted the photo to my NOLA Facebook group. As I started keying in the description, the realization of why this suitcase is so important became clear.

At the store, I thought it was just a nice suitcase, in a nice color. But I didn’t really need it.  It wasn’t really necessary.

But I was wrong. So very wrong.

I have a suitcase set. Remember my red Disney suitcase? The one that the airport lost on the way to Blue Ridge last year?

Luggage UnLost

Luggage UnLost

I still have it. I still love it.

But once I took Green home, it spoke to me. “I’m never empty. I’m always full of promise. Adventure. A future. Dreams. Success. Something Good. Trust me.””New,” it says. “Look forward, not behind,” it beckons. “Change is good,” it offers. “It’s okay to let go,” it comforts. “I’ll protect,” it promises. It was half price, and I had a 20%-off coupon, plus I received $20 back in Kohl’s Cash. This $240 suitcase cost me less than $90, and it’s already worth the investment.Because it’s an investment in me. In my dreams, hopes, excursions. It makes it okay to think about the future. It tells me there are places out there I’m going to, and it fills me with a sense of adventure. I’m going to soar, and Green is coming with me.

As I write this post, when I first shared the photo on Facebook and Instagram, when I wrapped my hand around the handle and took it off the store shelf, and all the times in between when I think of it, I hear Dr. Seuss telling me “Oh, the places you’ll go!”

I didn’t know how much I needed the promise this suitcase could give. I can’t explain why I’m so full of gratitude and longing and thankfulness and excitement and anticipation and confidence. I just know I am. And it feels marvelous. There’s a world out there waiting for me to embrace it. And I’m on my way.

This is my suitcase. This is my green suitcase. This is the color of my company. My lucky bamboo. Frogs. My writing chair. Lizzie Cat’s eyes. My Narnia room.

This is my new green suitcase.

And we’re going places.

And Frankly, My Dear . . . That’s all she wrote!

 

Sweeten my tea and share:

NaBloPoMo for April 2: What Was the First Poem You Ever Memorized?

Apr 2, 2012

That’s a tough question. A very tough question. Because I’m pretty sure before I learned to talk, I learned poetry. My mom was, and still is, an avid reader. She read to me since birth. As I’ve often blogged about her, she’s instilled my love of words. I’m fairly certain that I recognized poetry and prose long before I “knew” anything about them.

I can’t be sure that I correctly recall the first poem I ever memorized, but The Itsy Bitsy Spider comes to mind. That, and perhaps any rhyme from Winnie the Pooh.

And Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss rocks! I grew up on The Cat in the Hat, and loved loved LOVED when Mom would read to us from The Cat in the Hat’s Dictionary.

Once on a weekend afternoon, Mom was busy in the kitchen (another love she shared with me!), so my brother and I asked Dad to read to us from the Dictionary.

Poor Dad! He gave up after five minutes, because my brother and I kept telling him, “Make the voices like Mom does,” “That’s not how Mom reads it,” and “You’re doing it wrong.” I can see the frustration on his face. He tried, he really did; but a deep man’s voice can’t compete with a soft mother’s inflections when it comes to the imagination of two young children.

And while I still can’t be sure what the first poem I memorized was, this prompt certainly brought back fond family memories.

And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!

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