The day after I turned six, I received a great gift. It was a box of Tonka trucks. The aunt I'd lived with my first 6 months sent them via my grandmother. Her husband had an excavation business and the box included a dump truck, cement mixer, and a bulldozer with a backhoe. They were vintage toys that had never been used.
I'd never had such nice things, but I wanted to play with them. So I did. While my older siblings were at school (or work) during the week I'd take my trucks out to our "sand pile". I had a lot of fun working on imaginary projects. When I was done, I always rinsed them off under our outside spigot, dried them, and carefully placed them back into their box.
One day I went to get them, but couldn't find the box. I wondered if my dad had rearranged stuff in our basement and the box was somewhere else. I asked about the box at dinner and couldn't believe the answer. My dad had given the toys to a friend of his, as a gift for a newborn son. My prized possesions were gone. I couldn't speak, but the horror showed on my face. My father said, "You never played with them. They were just taking up space." Arrrgh!!!
Lesson learned--well, really, I didn't learn this lesson until much later, but the process took its first step that day. The lesson? People can't read my mind. I loved those toys, but no one knew it and I lost them. Don't let that happen to you, show your feelings, appreciation, etc.--and yes, now I'm talking about people, not the toys. Don't make those you care about wonder if you care at all. Who really cares about some old toys anyway. I mean, sure, they were shiny and perfect and I loved them and they were mine! How dare they...oops, got off track. What I want to say is they were just things. People are the real treasures.
PS - The bulldozer was a perfect shade of yellow. *sigh* ;P
they are just things... you are right.
ReplyDeleteoj då! so sorry for you Rich! it was tough..hehe. yah must show feelings before you'll regret whats gonna happen or can happen. What a nice example on showing love to people you care:) good day rick!
ReplyDeleteplease visit my new domain if you have time at www.me-mymestizas.com
thanks, let me know if you're there..leave your footprints..hehe!
LOL! I'd be super angry if someone threw my treasures away if I was young. I'd throw a little fit for a few days ^_^
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. People don't realize whether you care or not if you don't show it. :)
Great post :)
That's too bad. I can perfectly sympathize as my Mom also did that to me, but in my case it was my Cinderella pumpkin carriage! I still get sad whenever I remember that :(
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with the point you want to put across Rick. And I just want to let you know I appreciate you so much as a friend! :)
PS: I'm still waiting for the audio recording of your song!! Don't think I've forgotten!! =D
such a sad story for someone who's celebrating his birthmonth! ...and sorry...I cannot believe that on top of your ability to tell stories of just about anything (including pronouns)...you rinse your toys when you were a boy???!
ReplyDeleteI thought all kids are like muds with two feet. :D
hah..what a dad giving away toys not his..hehhe..peace! oh just so sad for you about it Rick:) Good day!
ReplyDeleteOhh that's sad. I totally did not expect how it ended. I had a similar experience, but I was much older (16).
ReplyDeleteI was saving this nice top I bought when I was around 12 but was too skinny then to wear it... Later on when I was older, I saw a photo of a family friend - and she was wearing it. Turns out my mum had given it away! I was SO upset. At least my mum learned HER lesson then lol - to ask me before giving away my stuff. Haha. But I don't know if I learned anything from that though haha.
But you're right, humans are sociable beings and we shouldn't let loved ones slip by, not knowing how much we cared for them! :)
That is definitely an important life lesson to learn. I am sorry you had to learn it in such a hard way though. That must have been traumatic through the eyes of a 6 year old. Were you mad at your dad?
ReplyDeleteI like that life lesson but I wish I didn't know about your trucks! I would have thrown a HUGE fit!
ReplyDeleteJust watched Toy Story 3, and while he wasn't six ... :)
ReplyDeleteIt is about the people. Too bad not everyone feels as you do.
A very good lesson indeed and good words of wisdom.
ReplyDeleteWe had some tonka trucks when I was a kid. I loved playing with them too.
Oh no!! I was hoping the post title didn't mean you losing your trucks.. I would have been devastated as well :\ A good lesson though, I for one needs a lot more work on expressing myself to my close ones.
ReplyDeleteBtw thanks Rick, I know people are their own worst critics, maybe I'll just leave the photo be. :)
True but geez, sorry to hear about your toys. T_T
ReplyDeleteOh I'm a creature of destruction, therefore I can throw away family heirlooms without a trace of guilt or regret. However as a child I never received birthday or Christmas presents because it's not something my family do. Therefore the odd time when my parents have bought me something I have treasured those items into my young adult life today. I can recall the items too. My Papa bought me a pink backpack for my first day at college. My Mama bought me a white/pink shoulder bag when I was sixteen years old. These two items I have treasured and valued even though they don't suit me anymore, I have kept them with me. Which is a miracle because like I said, I throw away anything I team not suitable to me at the moment I was in the mood of throwing things away!
ReplyDelete=> Reply to my comment on my post
I agree with you what you said and it's funny you mentioned it because I was having a talk with my friend over the weekend and she expressed the exact same terminology you had to me. She spoke about the waste of youth when one selfish man can harbour a girls ambition and dreams just because he wants her all to him self when in reality they both are better off apart.
aww that's sad, that's what happened to my rubber duckie collection, my mom donated it without telling me liek 10 years ago, till this day I still resent her for it
ReplyDeleteI can understand how that must have felt. I agree, we need to speak up and show our appreciation sometimes, especially to people who matter to us. :)
ReplyDeleteAgreed! No one can mind-read, that's for sure. Let's better be heard!
ReplyDeletewell that sucks!
ReplyDeletei still would've been livid. it still was YOUR toys. he should've asked. huff huff pout pout.
haha.
This post is super timely for me. I cannot agree with the sentiment (the true sentiment, I was lucky enough that my parents never did that to me) more.
ReplyDeleteRYC: hehe sorry my rant wasn't directed at you! I think I was watching too much trashy MTV rich kid shows that day, so I was on an anti-spoiled-rich-kid vibe.
Awwwwwww... this is such a lovely post Ric! I get what you mean, you are so right about this. But people are like that. They feel that it's uncool to declare love for something or someone. They feel that its acting quite desperate, but what if like your toys --- they get taken away? It'll suck big time, for sure!
ReplyDeleteI have difficulties when showing my feeling to people I care. Maybe it's a tradition, my family rarely hug and say love to each other, but I know they all care.
ReplyDelete