Wednesday 8 August 2012

Stuff wot I brought with me 1 - Snoopy Come Home

For want of a better name, this post is going to be part of a series named Stuff wot I brought with me, or what (not) to pack when you move three thousand miles.

I was strict when I was packing for the USA move. Most of our wedding gifts had been delivered to the USA, so I was lucky in only having clothes, books and belongings to pack up. I shipped five boxes using Seven Seas Shipping, and I cannot imagine the hassle of having to pack up a whole house and move its contents internationally. Oh my.

I dumped a lot of stuff. Stuff I'd hung onto and had to admit I'd never use again. It was after an encounter with my nan that I felt okay chucking it all out. She'd said that most of the people she knew as a child/teen were no longer in her life for one reason or another. But her family has grown, and she's shared most of her life with her husband and family.

I've moved over to create new moments with my husband. There will be new knick knacks. It's important (and easier in the 'social age') to hold onto moments and things and people from the past, sure, but I've also seen that show Hoarders. There's a limit. My limit was five boxes.

But as irrational and emotional beings are wont to do, I did hold onto some sentimental items. This video is a classic example. I found it while emptying an old chest during the packing process. The chest contained some old bears, a school recorder, some sheet music, old candy wrappers (why did I keep those?) and this video cassette.

It is fully useless. But I loved Snoopy Come Home as a kid.

When I was a toddler my mum, an art student at the time, painted a giant mural of Snoopy and Woodstock on my bedroom wall. We lived in a rented apartment, and while I thought it was the coolest thing EVAR, our landlord didn't agree (but Snoopy stayed).

When I found the video I did a terrible thing: I looked it up on YouTube. Copyright violations aside, it's the saddest movie ever made, and really not fit for watching when you're about to leave one home for another: Snoopy puts his kennel up for rent and leaves after a goodbye party where everyone cries. I learned later that apparently Schulz got divorced when this movie was released, which would explain a lot.

I was in bits. I emailed Mark in a panic over what to do. I'd had the video since I was three, but VHS is entirely outdated, we don't have a video player, and a UK VHS would never work in the USA anyway. This video is entirely obsolete, but I wanted to keep it. Makes total sense, right?

Mark replied: It is ok. I understand. Bring it. I insist.

So I did. Now I have this daft old 1980s video cassette that I can never use…But I'm glad I do.

Have you kept or shipping anything weird or useless? What couldn't you live without?

6 comments:

  1. I have a knitted Postman Pat doll and a little white blanket that my Mum and Gran knitted for me when I was just a baby. They sit on a chair in my bedroom with a few other stuffed toys I've accumulated over the years. I will never part with them, EVER. If my house was on fire they are probably what I would grab before I left the building.

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    1. I LOVED Postman Pat as a kid - for my third birthday a friend of the family dressed as Pat and 'delivered' all my presents.

      I left most of my old stuffed toys in a box at my parents' because I couldn't decide what to do with them. I kept storage box behind in the UK and I'll eventually figure out what to do with all those trinkets.

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  2. I brought the teddy I had since I was born and 3/4 of the vintage powder compact collection. In hindsight I didn't pack and bring enough of anything and I long for all the books I left behind.

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    1. All the more excuse to find your favorite books in thrift stores. I'm currently very confused as I think I left a cookbook (Nigella) back at my mum's but I'm not entirely sure, as I thought I'd packed it. I'm sure I'm going to have that feeling on and off for the next few years.

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    2. I think you always lose something in transit. When I moved from my old house to my new house I lost a few very random items that I know for a fact I packed, including my cake slice and my potato peeler =s

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