I’ve always been a collector. My grandma first introduced me to collecting with these very coins. I’ve kept them since “small kid time.”

In elementary school, I would buy football and baseball cards from Alice’s Market (currently the Waiola Shave Ice Store.) We would trade, play “Knock Down,” and clothespin them to our bicycle spokes.

When I got older, I collected comic books. This was the first comic that I ever bought. (A teacher at KS recently gave this to me as a gift after I described the cover.) In high school, I had a nice collection of Spider-Man and X-Men comics.

I’ve always loved music. My first 45 was “I Think I Love You” by the Partridge Family. My first two albums were “The Singles” by the Carpenters and “Chicago II.” In the 90s, I amassed an extensive library collection of CDs.

Woh. Remember these….?

In my adult life, I’ve been blessed with opportunities to travel. I now look for inexpensive souvenirs and mememtos. I got this Ultraman in a box of pretzels on my missions trip to Okinawa. I guess you could call it a freebie.

I got these beads on my ISTE trip to New Orleans. They were free, and I didn’t have to “earn” them….

These keychains were given to me as gifts before and after my JEM Exchange trip to Melbourne. Gifts make the most meaningful souvenirs.

This bottle was from my hotel room on my medical missions trip to Thailand. Everyday we received two free bottles of drinking water in our refrigerator.

And these are some of the gifts that I received from friends at RDFZ Xishan School in Beijing, China.

I am now growing a collection of Starbucks coffee mugs from the cities that I visit. Every time I take a sip, I remember the good times. I guess what I’m really collecting now are “happy memories.” Cheers….