The value of this card, to me, is not the card itself, but what it represents. The card as a metaphor has been a common theme so far in the countdown. I promise to try to not be so heavy handed going forward.
I was laid off from my job earlier this year and was down in the dumps. One day, a package arrived in the mail with a huge number of 1976 cards in it. I had been working on that set when I went on haitus during my time between jobs. The package was sent by the late Chris Stufflestreet, who was a pillar of the collecting (and blogging) community until his untimely passing earlier this year. Chris didn't send it for any other reason than as a friendly gesture. One that I appreciated greatly at the time and, frankly, still do.
As I cut down on the number of modern sets I collected, my trading activity declined sharply. When I made the recent decision to forgo modern sets altogether and to focus on vintage, I realized my trading activity will likely cease completely. But, I feel like I still need to contribute to a community that has been very generous to me. So, while I don't have any particular plan of action, I will try to help fellow collectors where I can with the hope that the person will, at some point in the future, pay it forward to someone else. Or as Emerson once said:
"In the order of nature we cannot render benefits to those from whom we receive them, or only seldom. But the benefit we receive must be rendered again, line for line, deed for deed, cent for cent, to somebody."
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you.
Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeletemoe.