Obsessions

At about the age of 30, I suddenly developed a collecting bug. I have no idea why this happened.
I had very little as a child. So possessions were not all that important to me.
Anyway, I went into a teddy bear store in a mall close to my home and noticed stuffed artist teddy bears and toys. It wasn't the bears that intrigued me, it was stuffed bunnies. I suppose they appealed to the kid in me. Or the kid I never got to be, which is probably the case.
I began with the less expensive bunnies, in the $30 range. Just like most collections, the interest grew into the more expensive mohair bunnies by the premier artists.
Then I bought my first alpaca teddy bear. I still have that bear nearly 25 years later.
The bear obsession grew. Artist bears, Steiff bears, then limited edition Steiff bears. The collection grew and grew.
Then the interest shifted to, of all the damn things, purses.
That happened when Jenna and I walked into the Louis Vuitton store in the Lenox Mall in Atlanta.
That obsession took off. I aquired at least 20 LV handbags.
I began to sell off the teddy bears. Not all of them. I still have quite a few and plan to take some of them into retirement with me.
Then came my first Chanel handbag. Then I got obsessed with Chanel.
I sold off most of my LV bags. Then I sold off many of my Chanel bags.
I got an Hermes bag. No, it's not the Birkin, I don't know if I will ever have a Birkin. But it is an Hermes.
I worked through 2009 and 2010 to cull the collection, and only keep what really appealed to me.
So by the end of 2011 I will have 4 LV, 4 Chanel, and 1 Hermes.
That seems like a collection that isn't overwhelming, but is interesting.
I'm happy with it.
For now anyway.......