Matchbooks and Memories

In my ongoing pursuit of purging my home of clutter I came across a basket full of matchbooks, almost 100 of them.  There’s no reason to keep them, I never smoked although someone used several of them in part or completely.  I collected them when I visited a place I wanted to remember, maybe to come back and visit again with the thought of enjoying another meal or another night’s stay.  Truth is, they were meant to be bits of memory, stored away to be re-visited some lazy afternoon when I wanted to reminisce.  Some are over 30 years old.

There are matchbooks from all the way back to the early 70’s at Paul Shank’s in Scottsdale where I went on my [first] honeymoon; Los Olivos, Sugar Bowl, local restaurants when I was in my 20’s and chain restaurants like Marie Callender’s, Sesame Inn, The Good Egg and Reata Pass Steak House.  Trips I took after graduating from college and before and after having my son to the Silverton Train in Silverton and the La Quinta in Colorado Springs; the Hotel del Coronado where there was a family vacation and the Westin Bonaventure where we went with some church couples in California.  The Royal Hawaiian in Hawaii to celebrate 10 years and the Fabulous Toots Lagoon, the Adobe Inn and Em Le’s in Carmel by the Sea where my son went to tennis camp in California; Wickenburg Inn, John Gardnier’s Enchantment, Las Campanas de los Catalinas, El Dorado and Poco Diablo Resorts, in Arizona for Charro celebrations. 

And then there were the Las Vegas trips; the Alpine Village Restaurant with the train and the pewter serving dishes; Jai Alai at the MGM Grand, the Riviera, the Golden Nugget with its yummy shrimp cocktails, Caesar’s Palace, Luxor, Fremont, Circus Circus, Gold Coast, and the Stardust.

In my 30’s it was Club Mediterranee and the years of living it up; Mancuso’s, Ruth Chris’, Jewel of the Crown and La Chaumiere.  And the travel for work, how I loved to travel; the Millennium Hotel in New York City at the World Trade Center, Le Bor Bat Restaurant, Essex House, Hotel Nikko, Caravela, B Smith’s, Le Parker Meridien, and the Restaurant Francais all in New York.  International travel to the Top of Toronto and Anderson’s Dining in the Creek in Vancouver, Canada; Hotel L’Horset, Hotel Metropole, L’ Alban Chambon Restaurant and Meridien Hotel in France.

Then life took another turn and I was at the Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Doubletree and Registry Resort putting on seminars for geriatricians.  Meeting dates at Marilyn’s First Mexican Restaurant, Ed Debevic’s, Chevy’s, Z’Tejas, Planet Hollywood and Kowabunga.

And here I am now.  Moving on.

Gifting memories

In addition to donating or selling things after recording their meaning to me in this blog, I've begun to look at my possessions and consider them as potential gifts.  I have too much and a gift with a "story" of the memories surrounding it may be more precious to the recipient.  Besides, the story will be lost if I'm not here to share it.

I recently gave as gifts some books - a child's picture book to a grand nephew, a book on rural living to a niece living on an old dairy farm, a coffee table book on Fractals to a sister who's interested in the topic.  I gave away some watches that I haven't worn since I left the corporate rat race to a niece on the edge of jumping into it.  These items will receive more use in their new homes and new memories will be made.

Purging my library

I have a library, I would guess of over 300 books.  I love them.  They have been my companions all my life, with me at every stage, through every life experience.  Many haven't been opened in years yet remind me of who I was, where I've been and how I got here.  Today I started to purge them so that, when I'm gone, someone else won't have to do it.  My book friends and I have been together a long time, some over 35 years and only we know the times we shared.  Here's some that I'm passing on.

From before the 90's
Beyond Freedom and Dignity - B. F. Skinner
Passages - Gail Sheehy
The Closing Circle - Barry Commoner


There's a couple diet books in there too.  The Before 90's collection has the flavor of the decades of ecology, social issues, feminism.  Sigh.

From the 90's - my second childhood
Approaching Zero - Turning Stones - Managing Your Mind - Darwin's Machines - Collapse of Chaos - Beirut to Jerusalem - Being in Dreaming


The collection here shows someone looking for something, different thinking, self-improvement, what the future may hold.




If any of these titles strike your fancy let me know and I'll hold them aside for a little while, maybe the end of the month.  After that, out they go.  Keep in mind these are some that I'm getting rid of.  What remains on the shelf are still a part of me that I can't or don't want to let go of yet.  If you want to know those titles you'll just have to visit me!