If you could save only one thing, one possession, what would you choose?

R&H, I expect you have some ideas on this.

Why does this item have a special meaning that you would pick it above everything else?

-- Anonymous, July 13, 2000

Answers

Hi Pam:

Interesting question.

Obviously it would be something that can't be bought.

Let me think.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2000

Any getaway package has to include family pix, financial papers, a change of underwear, wallet.

Beyond that...

I don't have any furniture that I care about, no original art that I would miss, no rare china or flatware.

I would save, as I did from H Andrew, a piggy that I carved from sugar pine when I was nine. It's pretty good! That's what I would save again.

Your turn, Pam.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2000

Hi R&H---

Now what a nice item to pick to save.

My husband and I talked about this subject one evening. I would take my strand of pearls. He would take his rifle. They sound like very different items but both of them were our first grown- up gifts. My Dad gave me the pearls for my 10th birthday and Jer's Dad gave him the rifle for his 9th birthday. Well worn, well loved.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2000

Hi Pam:

Nice choices. Stuff you can't possibly replace.

I can't imagine my dad giving me a gun. But he sold them. And he was proud of my "sharpshooter" medals from summer camp.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2000

The pearls were waiting for me on my dresser when we arrived in Yokohama in 1954.

Jer's gun sounds as outrageous as pearls for a 10 year old but he was in charge of keeping the wookchuck population down. Tractors have a nasty tendancy to roll over when they hit woodchuck holes. I think he took his job quite seriously. He's a good shot but no fun things like medals.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2000

Pam, it would have to be my computer! :-) What would I do without it? What did I do before I had it??

All my family photographs are stored on it, that would be the only other thing I could think of. Everything else I own is replaceable.

Your computer is like your pocketbook, it's filled with your personal things, things that would take time and effort to replace. Just the thought of finding all the bookmarks again, and reloading all that software...ugh!

If you've ever lost or had stolena pocketbook, you know what I mean.

(Amazing the sentimental value I place on my computer...

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2000

My first thought was my photo album, but then I thought back to the Northridge earthquake in 1994. Once I was finally able to get out of my bed all I could think about was finding my Dachshund. I somehow found her in the darkness and grabbed her up in my arms and we rode out the rest of the quake in the doorway. She's not really a possession, but definately a priority.

-- Anonymous, July 15, 2000

Well, I was assuming it meant all pets were accounted for. Otherwise, my dogs would always be my first priority. Hell, I'd run through a burning building to save my dogs. They are my "other" kids.

-- Anonymous, July 16, 2000

Okay, then if I don't have to include my dogs as the possession, then I think it would have to be this diamond ring that I bought from an antique store some years back.

This ring is from the 1940's, set in an art deco style and although not necessarily extremely valuable I have some strange attachment to it. When I first saw it I was just drawn to it, and I always sensed that it had significant meaning to the original owner.

This makes me feel really shallow, but I do think I would grab for that silly ring instead of my photo album or other personal papers!

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Do as I say, not as I do...

List what you'd take somewhere handy - now, as well as phone numbers of family & friends. After having been in a couple of evacuation situations, I can honestly attest to the fact that your brain does not function like you'd think it would in a time like that. You can't remember the usual numbers, and the things that you pack are bizarre.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

VERY good advice Flora. Ever since the Northridge quake I sleep with shoes and flashlight next to the bed, and I have an extensive earthquake kit outside of the house, but I don't have phone numbers, etc. in one easy place.

In times of stress your mind doesn't think clearly. After the earthquake I spent an hour trying to dig out the shop vac so I could start to clean up the mess, knowing full well there was no electricity to run the darned thing.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000

Flora,

Good advice. I had three hurricane scares - and never made a list. How stupid of me. When Andrew hit, I just grabbed a few things and got out.

My advice: If possible, do not panic. In something like an earthquake, I guess everyone panics - for good reason. But where you have some warning, like a hurricane, take an extra few minutes and think.

In Andrew, all the broadcasts said "Get out now. Do not get stuck on I-95 during the hurricane." So I panicked and ran. I could have taken another hour at no personal risk, and filled a couple of pillow cases with stuff.

-- Anonymous, July 17, 2000