Rock-tober 03, 2022

Earlier this year we had to replace our refrigerator. It was the first major appliance Andrea and I bought after our marriage as we moved into our townhouse, and it followed us on our move to our current home. After serving faithfully for over 22 years, the heater coils on our trusty ice box failed. 

Old Faithful was massive with all-white surfaces to match the decor of our townhouse kitchen. Neither of us was a fan of "side by side" models, so we'd selected a fridge configured with a separate freezer on the bottom. This meant the top compartment door was an uninterrupted expanse of real estate. Rather than magnetized message boards or grocery lists, we wound up filling this space with souvenir magnets we'd bought as mementos of places we'd visited on our excursions.

This wasn't always the case. Early in our travels, I'd always duck into the gift shop of whatever attraction we were visiting and tried in vain to find a pennant. Unfortunately, pennants must have fallen out of favor as souvenir kitsch. No one had them. This was a disappointment because my collection of these colorful flags started when I was a kid. As Dad was transferred from duty station to duty station, my assortment of pennants from states we traversed and attractions we stopped at grew. Anyone who spent time in my room in the early '80s will remember them adorning my walls. No rock group album art. No posters of Cheryl Tiegs or Farrah Fawcett. Just pennants. And eventually a bow.

*sigh

Now, to sate my collections fixation, a substitute had to be found. That's when we turned to magnets.

Over the years, our travels were reflected by new appearances on the fridge. Little magnetized trinkets from Seattle to Key West and New Orleans to Bar Harbor found their places on the plain white facade. Soon it became an international collection. A red London phone booth shared the space with a blue fleur de lis from Montreal and a hopping kangaroo silhouette from Sidney.

Now, as the delivery crew prepared to carry the old fridge out the door I found I'd gotten a little misty-eyed. One by one, I removed nearly 150 magnets. I felt like I was unceremoniously removing the rank insignia of a faithful old soldier.

Quickly and efficiently, the guys slid the new, larger, stainless-steel faced replacement into its niche. This unit had an ice maker and water dispenser - the first time I've ever lived in a house with those conveniences. I chuckled to myself as I imagined Dad's assessment, "Pfft. Is it too much trouble for you to fill up the ice trays?"

As the delivery truck lumbered down our road with Old Faithful on board, I turned to the task of inducting the new guy into our household. I placed all our magnets on the gleaming new stainless steel veneer, reminiscing over each one.

And the collection has grown. We're now having to utilize the bottom freezer door to display tokens of our most recent foray into bourbon country. It may seem odd to commemorate trips on a kitchen appliance, but wait 'til I tell you about our key fob collection.