Across the Cafe Table #3 What’s Your Favorite Souvenir?

We invite you to join us every second Wednesday of the month around the cafe table.

Welcome to our Third “Across the Cafe Table”! Wondering what the heck this is? You can read about it here.

This month’s question is:

What is your favorite souvenir?

Is it okay I made up this question, but am not going to really answer it? The answer is, of course. And if you find you want to answer it, but not really that’s okay too.

I’m not going to answer it directly. I will do my best to answer it in “spirit.”

A Weekend of “Firsts,” a Stuffed Tiger Cub, a Souvenir Shop and a Lesson about Gifting and Conditional Generosity

My favorite souvenir is from Natural Bridge, Virginia. Natural Bridge is one of those old tourist destinations that back in the day had a shimmer about them. I was around 7. It was summer. And my best friend who had been my friend FOREVER, meaning for one entire school year was about to move away. I wasn’t happy about it.

I’d gone with my family for a weekend trip to visit relatives in the Shenandoah Valley. The drive was my first memory of seeing a mountain. We stopped at the top of Afton mountain just west of Charlottesville at a Holiday Inn that was located right next to Interstate 64. It had a restaurant, and therefore was glamorous. The view didn’t hurt. We sat in dark brown spindle backed chairs, drank Coke from curvy special glasses that were made just for Coke. I looked out the large picture window at the view and missed my friend.

When we went to Natural Bridge I remember being awed by it for around 5 minutes.  There may have also been some caverns involved, but I’m not sure.  My grandmother had given me $3 to buy a “souvenir.” I’m not sure I knew what that was until then. It was also my first tourist destination gift shop.

Natural Bridge Virginia is located near Roanoke

There were so many things to choose from in the souvenir shop that I got confused; a condition that would follow me on future shopping exploits. Did I really want a glass with a picture of this “natural bridge” on it? A book about it? A key chain? (I didn’t have any keys.) No. So I chose a small stuffed tiger cub. Please note that there are no wild tigers in Virginia.

I could analyze this now and speculate that perhaps the initial thrill of being in a mountain setting a couple of hours from my house had already worn off; maybe I was now ready to venture well beyond the exoticism of Natural Bridge, Virginia, to Siberia or Bengal.

Or maybe I just liked cute stuffed animals more than old bridges, whether they were natural or not.

When I returned home and saw my friend one last time before she moved, I gave her my new toy. I don’t remember exactly how it came about, but it was impulsive and I regretted it immediately. I had gotten swept up in a moment of saying goodbye, her wanting it, and me wanting to implement some recent Sunday school lesson. She named him Teeny Tiny; I thought that was dumb.

When I went to see her for the weekend several months later, she had lost Teeny Tiny. Equally as horrifying she had all but forgotten about what I saw as my supreme act of generosity. It took me more years to forget about Teeny Tiny than I like to admit. I never have been back to Natural Bridge, Virginia, but when I do go back someday, I’m pretty sure I will find it much more interesting now; but thanks to buying a stuffed tiger in a gift shop then giving it away, I will never forget that trip.

What is your favorite souvenir?

Photo courtesy of Natural Bridge of Virginia