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some days i wonder, “is it me?”…
yesterday, some thieves broke into the porter tire storage yard. guess who stores their brand new 5×8 super duper enclosed trailer in their yard for protection? guess who just got their fifth (yeah, you heard it right)…fifth trailer stolen?
have i told you lately that, in spite of everything, i love north point? i do. i really do.
so anyway, this recent venture into the world of crime got me to thinking (especially since my re-post a couple of days ago) about things i have had stolen in my life. it’s happened enough that i can build a legit “top five” list of the day. is that sick, or what?
so here goes…my personal “top five” things that i have had stolen in my life:
5. a walkman – not just any walkman, mind you… (i think it’s amazing that the current generation of young people have no idea what a walkman is!). in 1990, i spent about a month in india and i brought my walkman to listen to cassette tapes of music and sermons during the long hours of travel. i was making a 13-hour second-class rail trip through central india, when a little kid reached through the window of my rail car and swiped it right in front of me, while the train slowed down going through a village. great memory…
4. an ovation custom balladeer acoustic-electric guitar – you can read my post from wednesday for the details. this is the first one that i had stolen in 1977. it cost me a fortune back in those days. no insurance. this was bad. took me quite a while to get over it.
3. my original gold wedding band – one night in 1988, i took my ring off and put it in my small duffel bag before i played a softball game. i’ll never know, for sure, what happened, but the next morning, when i went to the bag to retrieve it, it was gone. forever. sad day.
2. a vintage guild d-4 acoustic guitar – from 1990-1995, we were part of a new church plant in the inner city of east san diego (while i worked full-time for amor ministries, leading trips into mexico on short term mission trips). the week before we loaded up our belongings and moved to texas, the greatest guitar i have ever owned was pilfered from our church building during our last bible study where we said good-bye to all of our friends for the last time. i knew who stole it, but i couldn’t prove it. because we were leaving so soon, i didn’t have time to go visit the pawn shops in our neighborhood to find it. urgg….that guitar was worth more than drug money.
1. my 1964 rawlings trap-eze baseball glove – ok, before you jump my case for putting this number one and not my wedding band, you just gotta know me. when i was ten years old (1964), my father paid $47 for the best glove money could buy at that time. it would be the equivalent of a $400 custom glove today. no joke. my father was a carpenter. we were the picture of a blue-collar, lower-middle class, paycheck to paycheck family. this glove cost a fortune, but my dad spared no expense for his little fledgling ball player. it was way too big for my hand, but i grew into it and i played with that glove through my high school baseball playing days and when i began my 28-year softball playing career, that glove made the transition in major league fashion.
one night in 1998, after playing a softball game at lake park, someone stole it from the bench beside me. in the blink of an eye, it was gone. it was more than a ball glove. it was a connection to my dad. it was a connection to my youth. it’s a personal connection to the great game that i no longer have. it was the best glove ever. i can still feel it on my hand. i can close my eyes and smell the leather, as if it were right here in front of me. i’m grateful for the memory, but it’s not the same.
i’ll be sad for a few minutes… *tear goes down cheek*
ok, i’m better now.
how about you? need some memory therapy? what’s on your list of things you’ve had stolen?
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