Sad about bags

My stash of “pretty” paper bags were recently disposed of by Arthur, without my knowledge. He did not think we would be having a conversation about it. But he’s wrong.

I was/am upset about it, but not THAT upset.

Upset enough to stop him in his tracks and demand a conversation when I discovered the “horrific truth”.

Upset enough to not share his amusement nor appreciate his attempts at being “cute”. And I still do not see the humor in the situation.

Upset enough that I could not talk to him for an hour, and possibly gave me the energy to do my first 30 minutes run in 2 years.

Upset enough that I am on the verge of an online shopping spree just to make me feel better.

Upset enough to make him promise to not throw away any of my things without checking with me in the future.

• I did not know I need to explicitly state that “respecting each other” also meant we do not throw each other’s things away.
• It’s not a fair comparison, but his actions reminded me of a certain uncle who likes to throw his wife’s things away, including food in the pantry that is perfectly good. Needless to say, that uncle is somewhere up there in the “crazy people in my life” list.

Not that upset because, I know in the big scheme of things, this does not really matter. It’s actually a little frivolous because they are but a stack of shopping and gift paper bags. 
Not that upset because I would be fine without them, eventually.

Not that upset because I am actually able to look at myself from the outside and not go too crazy with the conversations in my head.
Not that upset because i don't think i'll start hiding what things in my closet to "keep them safe".

But still upset because he trivialized what was important to me.

Upset because we’ve had those conversations before, and he’s thrown many of them away over time, and yet, something possessed him to to get rid of the entire stash in the closet.

Upset because well.. who throws someone else’s things away without even asking?!

And upset because my Mother’s Day post is hijacked by this need to get this off my chest.

So in loving memory of my paper bags, and for the safety of my future stash...

I kept/keep them because I like them.

I kept/keep them because I use them. They serve a purpose and they are not trash. Not every day but often enough – I went through them just last month! And I would humbly submit that I get to them more often than some books on our shelves! Which I have no idea when either of us would ever touch them.

I kept/keep them because they are useful. When I need to put Mya’s clothes away, when I need to give things away to people (it’s better than a flimsy Jewel plastic bag!), when I need to haul all the Christmas presents into the car. They are as useful to me as the zip-lock bags we have, just for different size things.

Oh and for the record. I could replace the books if they ever got accidentally treated as trash. And I could buy zip-lock bags easily if someone ever felt compelled to throw the perfectly good boxes we have in the drawer away.

But the shopping bags, one could not even buy them. And even if you asked at the stores, they might not even if them to you.

And the gift bags, there is usually a face or an occasion behind each one of them. Or a the very least, a sentiment. They came to me at Mya’s baby shower, for Christmas, .. And they had the potential to carry my joy to the next owner.

RIP my paper bags. I am sorry you were taken from me and we had to part ways without a goodbye.