• One yellow sapphire earring


• Those two black sweaters I got at the Salvation Army a while back


• The cord to the electric blanket


• The mix CD Al sent me with �Special Lady at the Waffle House� on it, and a Polaris CD


• This year�s Family Monopoly Challenge, and accompanying trophy


• Those dark brown pants. I loved those pants


• Patience, with my Uncle Joe Don, for telling me that the Vietnamese restaurant I�d recommended no doubt serves cat in their noodle soup


• The right to play in future Family Monopoly Challenges, based on a trade that my cousin Virginia�s husband Gary deemed �unethical�


• One 18k gold hoop earring, received as a birthday present in 1998


• Any sense that I am headed in the right direction, life-wise

What I have retained

• The box from the Polaris CD


• Two buttons, in a little plastic bag, from a black coat I no longer own


• The absurdly high sentimental value I attached to those gold hoop earrings


• The satisfaction of knowing that my theft of $800 from the Monopoly bank went undetected


• The theoretically electric blanket


• A found grocery list, written on a yellow Post-It, including the items �Hweat� and �Blue Onion�


• A phone number, likely outdated, for Rita Rudner (though we are not acquainted)


• Several possible retorts to Uncle Joe Don�s derogatory comments about the Vietnamese, the French, the state of Vermont, beer drinkers, Blue Laws, and gay marriage


• Water, here and there


• The words to the chorus of a song about Hercules, written by my friend Jim for a play I was not in


• The understanding that I am ready for the next great segment of my life to begin, and the uncomfortable feeling that perhaps some impetus on my part is required


• The certainty that stasis is the most likely outcome of my Dream + Ambition equation