Skip to main content

Bizarre sentiment~


I stuck with Pete's plan today and tackled the "linen closet."

My "linen" closet holds cotton sheets and terrycloth towels, and assorted other things. Three bagfuls are now in the trash. I saved-- but neatly-- equally as much stuff. I will save it for six months to see if I actually use it. I already know what the answer will be, but psychologically three bags were enough for today's trash.

It was an unpleasant job, a hot sweaty job. The choices, the decisions, the dust. . .. I was proud I chose to do it instead of writing the newspaper story due today; if I didn't procrastinate on writing, I'd never get anything done around the house.

It took only a couple of hours and the closet looks as good as my "lonj - er - ay" drawer.

I decided I'd look into my "items with sentimental value." Pete says if they're important enough to keep, find a place to "highlight their importance." Makes sense; I concur: toss it or prove its worth by finding a place for it.

I was doing well until I came across a small cap in a box that held old costume jewelry.

It was the cap my newborn son wore on his head when I brought him home from the hospital. Well, he didn't actually wear it on his cranium, but his other head.

It was the tiny plastic cap that the doctor put on the head of my son's penis after circumcising him. Think tiny, like the tip of a woman's baby finger. It's twenty-eight years old. He is too.

Weird? What can I say? He was my firstborn son. Tell me no other mother ever saved a plastic cap from her son's penis! Or maybe not that, exactly, but something else equally odd. Or . . . is it just me?

Here's, the dilemma: save it or not?

I saved it this long, this little symbol of the birth of a son. I can't just toss it. But how can I highlight it? Put it on a chain and wear it around my neck?

"Oh, I love your pendant," they'll say. "So original. Where did you get it?"

Frame it in a shadow box, a tiny one, and focus spot lighting on it? Pass out magnifying glasses so people can view it?

Give it to my son's fiancée on their wedding night? "They grow up so soon," I'll say.

Blackmail him with it? "I'll post a picture on the Internet if . . ."

Pete be damned. This stays in the box in my drawer. Sometimes, bizarre or not, sentiment rules.

Comments

Jo said…
I can identify. I often think if I were to be hit by a bus tomorrow (..say) and someone had to go through my dresser drawers, they would wonder what some of the stuff is, and some of the scraps of paper, or photographs of people that only I know. My daughter was born at 3:37 on a Wednesday afternoon. When I left the hospital they gave me a little card with that time written on it, and I carried it around in my wallet for years, until my wallet was stolen. The thief must have thought, "What the heck is this??"
Janice Thomson said…
So why do we hold on to such things, like um...a circumcision cap? (I never even knew there was such a thing and my son was also circumcised!) Sorry but you have to admit that is funny. I do like the necklace idea! :>)
Sounds like you have made a fabulous start towards a 'lighter' life...good luck with the next drawers.
Ruth L.~ said…
Janice~

I don't deny it's funny. I was entertaining myself quite well as I wrote. You know, if I didn't still have proof, I don't think I'd have remembered there was such a thing either.

Josie~
You say you're not a writer. I beg to differ, based on what you "write" on your blog. Your stolen wallet would make a great essay. Obviously, if you still remember that piece of paper is gone, it meant something to you.
Dawn said…
The 'cap' is perfect for those wonderfully creative scrapbooks. All of those little tidbits will fit neatly onto the page with newborn photos, wrist bands from the hospital and that scrap of hair from the first hair cut. :)

I admit, I never saw a 'cap' like you mentioned and I have two sons! Are you sure that's what it is? :)

Dawn
Ruth L.~ said…
Dawn~
Okay, You got me wondering. I Googled "circumcision plastic cap." This is it, the plastibell.

"Plastibell Circumcision:
A plastic rim is left on the baby's penis after the circumcision. The plastic rim usually drops off 5-8 days later."

It's the little ring thing in the blog photo. I was pretty good at keeping up with the baby books. I suppose I could put it there.
Leslie: said…
You are hilarious! By all means, put it in his little baby book with an explanation. OR...have it covered with gold and do make it into a necklace. I wonder how many people would ask just what it is. lol
Ruth L.~ said…
Leslie~
Now there's an idea. Cleaning the clutter, I found my wedding ring from my ex. I could melt that down. Talk about the symbolism in wearing a circumcision cap covered with gold from an ex's ring. Testosterone power. I'd be golden. I seriously might do that. Bizarre sentiment? Or twisted? :>)
Anonymous said…
My first wife handed me something small and rubbery shortly after we got home from the hospital with my then newborn oldest son. I was looking at it and coudln't figure out what it was, so I asked. She told me it was my son's foreskin! It looked like a thick little rubber band, but wasn't quite as springy.
Ruth L.~ said…
Thanks Tim. I feel almost normal after hearing that. :>)The thing is . . . does she still have it in a small jar of formaldehyde in a drawer somewhere? If she does, I'm sure there are more of us out there than one would suspect. That would make me feel positively sane!
Unknown said…
I can relate, I think everyone keeps wierd things. I would like to personally invite you, there is a great group for women who believe in circumcision and I think they would enjoy reading your story:


http://www.cafemom.com/group/13109/

Sara
sarr115@yahoo.com

Popular posts from this blog

One Winter Day in February!

It’s just a week that I have here, doing "farm duty" for friends while they are in Maui avoiding the February weather. Yay them! And yay me too! This is a week of respite...less than half an hour from home and hubby—and cats. I can enjoy the best of both worlds. My “chores” for the week: ·       Gather the chicken eggs (my favorite part!!) ·       Feed the chickens and ducks and give them fresh water (It bothers me that they have to stay in their coop while family is away. Makes sense, but I feel bad. Otherwise, this would be a favorite). ·       Feed three feral cats (my other favorite thing!) ·       Feed four alpacas and give them water (this is becoming a favorite...) Once done, that leaves plenty of time to...           To WHAT, exactly? What DO you do with the free time you’ve always dreamed of having...besides wasting it wondering what you’ll do with all that free time? On day 1, I a

For Alice~ She's home!!!!!!!

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Sometimes it's all about knowing that loved ones and friends stand behind you, knowing that support is there on the down days, the worry days, the days when you feel off-center, out of sync, bedraggled emotionally, and in pain, but knowing all the while that you're not alone. You're not alone... Alice is an online friend--she lives in Hawaii-- who belongs to the writer's workshop that I do. We've only "met" online, but those who have online friendships know that they can be just as strong as those in-person relationships. Alice was hit by a car while walking, and is in the rehab phase of things. She's working to regain mobility after a broken pelvis, a broken arm, and a broken nose. It's scary to realize how, in the blink of an eye, life can lurch and our plans for a time are displaced by survival and healing. We&#

San Antonio and Boston~

I'm in Austin. Two days after Christmas we flew to Texas for another of Worcester State's basketball tournaments. Bruce's motto is, "I didn't miss any of David's games in high school-- and he played three sports-- why start now?" My motto is, "I didn't make all of his games in high school-- nor did I try. The least I can do is go to the ones that require traveling to a place I've never been." David spends his days with the team. When they are not playing or practicing, the coaches take the kids out to see the sights. We have plenty of free time to see the sights and to relax, which is what I'm after, basketball aside. Today we headed 80 miles south to San Antonio and sauntered along the River Walk-- the much corralled and exploited, but nicely so, San Antonio River-- in sun and sixty plus temps. We visited the Alamo, and absorbed a bit of Texas's interesting history and culture. Beautiful! Eye candy! Never ashamed to lug a camera