Postcard from Lithuania

I’m usually okay with getting rid of stuff. I go through stages, I guess. But every once in a while, there’s something that stops me from pitching something. For example, I’m moving offices this week. Our whole department – eight people and tons of files – is moving to another building. That’s a PILE of stuff, and I definitely got into a purging mood. My walls in my old office were pretty much covered with pictures and other fun stuff, and I wanted to pare down - you know, the whole fresh start thing. As I’ve been setting up in my new digs, I’ve been getting rid of even more.

But I came upon an old postcard I bought in Lithuania when I spent a semester there in 2001.




It’s really kind of dumb – it’s just a black card, with “Vilnius by night” on it, in English and Lithuanian. (Vilnius is the capital city.) I thought it was hilarious and I still do! It reminds me of the amazing and somewhat offbeat creativity and ingenuity I saw at Lithuania Christian College. The school had a really small budget for publicizing events and parties, but they did an absolutely amazing job with poster board, a few markers, and pictures cut out of magazines. I’ll never forget a huge poster for a party, advertising: “Drug-free party! (with moderate beer consumption).” Awesome.

The postcard is a little beat up, as you might expect from a postcard that not only travelled the world (it went with me to Bangladesh, where I went right after Lithuania), but also has been through, oh, about five moves. But I don’t want to throw it out! So I’m taking it home to live in my Lithuania scrapbook.

Maybe I’m pathetic for having an emotional attachment to a ratty old postcard. But if something has meaning, is it so wrong to want to hold on to it? I mean, that’s why I hang out with Steve.