My husband, on a phone call chatting with a friend said, “You know what I got for graduation? A suitcase!”
Yes, I, too, received a suitcase for graduation from college. It was a subtle hint back in the day. Hard case, avocado green and huge. (I got to pick the color. Surprise!) I loved that beautiful piece of luggage – a promise of travel, of unexplored vistas. The green baggage traveled with me on my first foray to Europe when I was 23. It stayed with me for two weeks and then spent the next month lodged at my aunt’s home in Germany while I hopped around Europe with a backpack and a Eurail pass.
That was the extent of the graduation gift. Different modes of transporting belongings came along and I had learned to appreciate a backpack-sized satchel. To this day I hate dragging anything more than a small roll-on. Except…..
Send me to my sister’s and I will pack the largest piece of pretty pinkish luggage I now own and it will be half-filled, awaiting the potential for whatever wonderful retail or museum shop opportunity we stumble upon. Stick me in the car and it will be filled with five different pair of shoes, two coats, hats, more clothing than is necessary because it fits. Room to spare?
Hatred of lugging things and spatial awareness have served me well.