My Most Inspiring Possession

A dear friend named Judi, whose journal I've been reading for years, has brought back her ARTSY ESSAY CONTEST! I'm very excited about this, and hope that others will read the wonderful essays already posted in Judi's blog!

Here is the topic for this month's new installment:
What is your favorite and most inspiring possession? Tell us about it, and if you want an extra creative challenge... tell us about it without naming it until the very last sentence of your essay:):):)

I own alot of possessions. When I first moved out of my parents' house, almost 9 years ago, I took this possession with me. It was mine, I had bought it, but I did allow the other members of my family to use it from time to time while I was at home.

This possession has been a tremendous outlet for me to do a wide variety of things. I was able to record the barking of our first family dog, something that was cherished when she sadly died way too early for her doggy lifespan. I also was able to save my wonderful pet bird's singing, to remind me of the most loyal pet I have ever had as a child, up until I got my cat a year after living on my own.

This possession has helped me create over 50 essays and papers during the years I spent in school for my teaching degrees. It gave me tips on how to phrase something, and told me if I spelled something incorrectly. It provided a list of synonyms for a word if I was overusing it. It also sometimes lost my work, which would lead me to almost throwing this possession out of the window.

This possession has allowed me to play games of all sorts. I've mastered some card games that I had never heard of before. I've survived fighting games, if only for a short time before I made a mistake and lost. Although they drove me nuts, I've attempted several strategy games, before I couldn't figure them out anymore, and I gave up. I've excelled with word games, even crosswords, which always makes me happy! The games often made me procrastinate on the essays I should have been writing!

This possession has allowed me to teach children when I no longer could be in the classroom. I've been able to use my teaching degrees in a way I never thought I could do. I've helped hundreds of lost children figure out how to use an exclamation point, what the steps are in writing an essay, and how to look up words in a dictionary. I know this possession allowed me to see so many children who were thankful for the help!

This possession has allowed me to expand my media library to include artists I had never heard of, and to collect songs of artists I've loved for years. It has allowed me to see videos I had forgotten about, to watch clips of childhood television shows and movies, and to see crazy animals doing all sorts of things. I have also been able to store the many hundreds of photos of loved ones, pets, and other things on this possession, which will help bring back memories of so many events in time.This possession has also allowed me to share all these things with other people, who also might have never experienced them like I have!

This possession has allowed me to meet people from all over the world. I've met interesting individuals from the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, just to name a few places! I've met people with all sorts of jobs: teachers, journalists, construction workers, business owners, ice cream makers, and the list goes on. I have also chatted with people who have hobbies ranging from collecting things, to reading and poetry, to creating beautiful objects with paints, beads, stencils, you name it. It is so wonderful meeting so many others who have different ways of living, but who can also share some similar experiences!

This possession has also allowed me to explore my creativity, and to share my thoughts with people.I write about almost everything, whether it is just a comment on the day, or thought-provoking ideas. I've shared personal likes and dislikes, through words, through stories, through jokes, and through pictures.

With everything I've been able to do with this most inspiring possession of mine, the one thing that is most endearing to me is being able to meet people with pulmonary hypertension (PH). I have lived with this rare lung and heart disease for my entire life, and never once did I know anyone who dealt with what I went through as a child. The extreme shortness of breath from doing very small tasks, or trying to play with my friends was brutal. The constant hue of bluish purple that reminded everyone that something was wrong with me, was something I never saw until I was an adult. The feeling of my heart beating out of my chest after climbing a flight of stairs was an experience no one around me could even begin to comprehend. Not until 2003, when I found others who were just like me with my most wonderful possession!

I communicate with these people, PHriends as we call each other, almost every day. I read messages from them, ranging on all topics, from diagnosis to treatments, how-to's and what if's, triumphs to failures. We share personal stories, prayers to each other, and just a wonderful support for those facing this scary illness. Without my possession, I would have never found and connected with this great support system. I would have continued to feel so alone with this disease.

What possession has allowed me to meet so many people around the world? What possession has allowed me to get utterly lost in a good game of solitaire? What possession has allowed me to share photos, and thoughts and ideas with others? What possession has allowed me to create bonds with people who share the same disease as I do? My most inspiring possession is black, comes in many parts, which all connect with wires. My possession gets plugged into the wall, and it's name is Dell.

My most inspiring possession is my computer. :)