What is one object you’ll always keep?

One object you’ll pack up and move with you, no matter where you’re moving.

One object that is meaningful enough to hold on to, forever.

One object that brings you “joy, magic, and meaning”?

It’s not an easy question to answer.

But it certainly made for an interesting book. 

Bill Shapiro and Naomi Wax have compiled that book. They asked people, from all walks of life, who live all across the country, that question. I recently completed reading that book – What We Keep: 150 People Share the One Object that Brings Them Joy, Magic, and Meaning. I found myself intrigued by these individuals, the glimpses into their lives, the objects they chose.

And, of course, it got me wondering, what would I pick?

There is my wedding photo album. My son’s baby book.

There is a childhood doll packed away in a box on a shelf in my closet. She had two names – Lovey and Jill. (I don’t remember why she had two names.)

There is a ceramic mask I painted and decorated when I was in junior high or high school and had a collection of ceramic masks hanging on my half of the walls in the bedroom I shared with my sister.

But I think the object I would pick would be my signed picture of Sally Ride.

When I was in the fourth grade, and until I was in high school, my career goal was to become an astronaut.

I wrote to Sally Ride. Though I don’t remember what I wrote. 

And she answered me with an 8×10 photo, her NASA photo, signed to me: “To Wendy, Good Luck! Sally Ride.”

Now, that picture is framed and hanging in my writing room. She is there, smiling down on me, encouraging me, believing in me. (Some would call it an “office;” I prefer “writing room.”)

Readers, I’d love to know. What object brings you “joy, magic, and meaning”? Feel free to share in the comments section.