Lauren Kinghorn
Word Count: 1,164
My most prized possession….when I try to decide what it is
there is only one thing I can think of and as cliché as it is, it’s not a
thing. My family and friends are the thing I hold most dear in the world. I
know it is cheesy but everything I have or anything with special meaning has
meaning because of those who gave it to me, or share the memory with me.
How to describe my most prized possession?
Let’s start with my family; I am the youngest of three. I
have two older brothers. Craig is seven years older than me and Tyler is five
years older than me. Growing up I was their punching bag, wrestling dummy and
their annoyance. I would do anything to hang out with them and their friends in
the basement; to do nothing more than watch them play video games. They have always been my heroes; the ones I
knew without any doubt would protect me, even though they were the ones who
beat me up.
Now that we are older, Craig is married and has two kids. I
lived with his family on my last co-op term and got to know my brand new nephew
and spend time with his family. Craig bathes everything in sarcasm, but is a
caring warm hearted person, who will try to ensure those around him have
everything they need. He is the grown-up of the three of us, taking on
responsibilities and having a bit more of a serious perspective. He is the
balance to mine and Tyler’s immaturity.
Tyler and I are extremely similar, except for the fact that
he is far more intelligent than I am. He can form an argument that makes even
an expert second guess themselves. His ability to logically break things down
is beyond me, but in that sense we balance each other. Where he is more logical
I remind him of the emotional perspective to things. Due
to his intelligence, Tyler is arrogant, but it is almost a bravado he puts on
because I know how much he cares about everyone around him. He always lets me
know he is there for me without actually ever saying it.
Every year at Christmas he and I stay up and talk and drink
until some stupid o’clock time in the morning having a heart to heart about
everything under the sun, it is our little ritual and one of the many memories
I treasure and moments I look forward to.
My parents.
What do you say about the people who have given you
everything?
My mother is my idol. I have heard many women say “oh I
sound just like my mother” and many jokes from males about women inevitably
turning into their mothers, but I have never understood this as a negative
thing. If I have half the strength, care and charisma my mother has I will be
proud. She put us first. Always. She introduced us to the arts and my love of
musicals is a direct result of the music that played in my house growing up.
She pushed us to try anything we wanted and when we failed that was still ok. She
continues to be my inspiration, she does not back down from a challenge and is
always trying to learn, most recently taking up African drumming. She is warm
and invites anyone to join her in her adventures with no judgement, which is
something I value and strive to emulate. My mother always tries to make
everyone she meets lives better and in my case she always has.
I have never been taught about feminism by my mother, but
she lead by example. It never even crossed my mind that being female had any
form of inequality attached to it. However, I believe this came from both my
parents. They both took on tasks around the house and they both worked
extremely hard to provide for us. They
also both treated me no different from my brothers, I helped build things, I
drove the trucks and helped with the hay. My parents were equal in all aspects
and my father never once made me think that I was anything less than equal to
my brothers.
My father, in my eyes was a true superhero. There was
nothing he couldn’t fix and really nothing he couldn’t do. He redid every room
in our house himself and when cabinet makers said things couldn’t be built he
explained to them how to do it. Tough with a dry quick wit, my dad never seemed
weak and yet I feel my soft heart as much as it is my mothers, is his. Showing
love in his own quiet way to everything including every animal we ever had. For
my night light, he used to catch fireflies in a jar every night (with holes
poked for them to be able to breathe), let them go the next day and catch me
new ones. He was harsh with his words,
but never more than needed to get his point across. He continues to be my voice
of reason, the person I call for answers and help and I don’t think that will
ever change.
“My life has a superb cast, I just can’t figure out the
plot” says Ashleigh Brilliant and I couldn’t think of a better way to describe
my friends. Those people that I can text
after six months of not speaking and feel like it has been ten minutes. I could
explain in detail a number of the loving brilliant people I include as family,
but it would take me a number of pages. Instead I will say this, some have been in my
life since childhood, others joined later but no matter when they came into my
life the trust and love I have for them is the same. Friends that bring comfort
and clarity to my life, and not only tolerate my ridiculousness but enjoy it.
In many ways they know me even better than my family, being there for the parts
of growing up that families aren’t the mistakes, questions and dramas that
later in life are nothing but funny memories.
I have never been one for fair-weather friends, either you are in for
the long haul or you are not worth my time. But those that are in for the long
haul are the things I hold most dear.
I know that most prized possessions are things like my
grandmother’s rings that I wear or the teddy bear I got at my grandmother’s
funeral, or the necklaces I cherish from New Zealand, but the truth is I cannot
speak to any of those without looking to the people that influenced me and were
there for me. In truth what I prize most in the world is those that hold my
secrets in their hearts, listen to my mistakes and memories and love me just the
same.
