At the news of the Queen's death, one realization jumped out at me: Her Majesty was an enthusiastic collector of stamps. She'd picked up the hobby when her grandfather George V passed his precious albums down the family tree, so did my grandpa. This got me thinking about how few "collections" I keep myself.
However, when I was complaining to my wife about how odd it is that I don't collect anything, she sighed and gestured behind me at the fridge freezer. At first, I thought she just wanted me to shut up and get out of the way. As indeed she did. But then I looked at the fridge doors she'd been pointing at, and suddenly I saw—as if for the first time—that I own 57 fridge magnets (冰箱贴). How odd it is to have spent 20 years combing through souvenir shops for fridge magnets without once being aware that I was making a "collection"! I guess it's because fridge magnets are, seemingly, so small and silly that they don't seem worthy of serious attention. Particularly my ones, as I have a preference for the cartoonish and humorous: There's even a starfish with sunglasses on, but could any of these fairly be named a "collection"?
However, for me, they are priceless and I'd happily hand over another couple of hundred pounds for them, as they hold so many memories. Some even include photos of me, like the one from my first vacation overseas, easily calling up past memories, youth and enthusiasm, like the Radio 4, one I bought at the BBC shop just because I was so proud to work in the building and the magnets of Oregon woodland creatures, which I purchased just for the receipt. By no means is this a collection my grandchildren will want. But isn't that the best kind of collection to have?
