I have a very special photo which I carry with me in my wallet, always. (Well almost always, as you will learn.) It is cut out from a black and white 120mm contact sheet, and it is of Fay and seven of her puppies on the day of their birth.
I am very attached to this photo. In it you can see Fay nursing the litter, bookended from left to right by Chundo, the largest, Crooky with the crooked tail, Glenn with ears like Glenn Gould, Blaise with a white spot, handsome Ken, Speedy the athletic one, and then Battina, tiny as a little brown bat. Two more puppies were born later that night. This is the only picture I have from this monumental occasion.
One day a few years ago I realized that I should make a copy for safe keeping, so I took out this little scrap and left it on my kitchen counter as a reminder to myself. That very day my wallet was stolen by a pickpocket. I lost my driver's license, credit cards, money. But the photo, thank goodness, was safe.
-- WW
Do you have a special photo, a lucky penny, or other treasure that you carry everywhere? Tell us about it in the comments! Flo will choose one at random, and the winner will get a signed copy of Dogs on Rocks, by William Wegman. Remember to include your email address so we can contact you! The contest will close on 12/5/12 at 11:59 pm.
I have lost my wallet on many occasions. Treasured objects and all... but my current object (going on 4 years)is a not-so-small flat stone. My now husband found it and gave it to me when we first started dating. He found it by a river in Maine and etched on it (not by him) "The world's perfect "skipper" DON'T WAIST (sic) IT!" Sometimes it drops out of my wallet when I'm paying for something and people look at me strange, it's heavy but loved.
Posted by: Suzannah | 11/28/2012 at 12:46 PM
I always carry a picture of my daughter, taken in her NYS Police uniform, because it has proven less expensive than paying for speeding tickets. FLO FLO FLO, see your name...pick me!
Posted by: RICHARD J SIMMONS | 11/28/2012 at 12:50 PM
I always carry a tooth. Sometimes I carry a stick. FLO, FLO, FLO, see your name? Pick me!
Posted by: RICHARD J SIMMONS | 11/28/2012 at 12:55 PM
♥♥♥
Posted by: veronique chabane | 11/28/2012 at 12:57 PM
I always carry a picture I have of my son and dog. It's my favorite picture of them!
Posted by: Joanne Ozga | 11/28/2012 at 12:58 PM
My wedding ring is my most prized possession. It reminds me of how far I've come as a person and grateful I am -- every single second -- for my amazing wife.
Posted by: twitter.com/lupowolf | 11/28/2012 at 01:05 PM
My wedding ring is my most prized possession. It reminds me of how far I've come as a person and grateful I am -- every single second -- for my amazing wife. lupofoto @ yahoo.com
Posted by: twitter.com/lupowolf | 11/28/2012 at 01:07 PM
My grandfather was a great person, I loved him very much. We lost him 7 years ago. He loved to play on the lottery but never won. About 4 years ago I found one of his very very old lottery tickets. This is what I carry in my wallet since that day. Though I never play on the lottery, it just feels good to have it with me. :)
Posted by: Nora Menner | 11/28/2012 at 01:08 PM
I carry a picture of my first Weimeraner, Everyone thinks its my current girl. I don't correct them.
Posted by: Susan Monjure | 11/28/2012 at 01:17 PM
I wear a simple rubber bracelet that says god bless my marine. It was a gift from my son on the day he left for bootcamp to become a marine.he also got our weim who is 13 yrs old a i love my marine collar. We have NEVER taken them off in 7 years. My son kept a pic of our dog with him the entire time. God blessed us and after 2 deployments our son came home safe. We still to this day wear them
Posted by: angeles rowlands | 11/28/2012 at 01:19 PM
Right now my phone is my prized possession!! I have both of my boys pictures on it ... I have had four Weims in my life and presently foster rescue dogs with a local rescue. My phone is with me all the time and I cherish the pictures of my boys, my family and every rescue dog's face! I am a photographer, and pictures are precious to me!
Posted by: Donna Seaman | 11/28/2012 at 01:22 PM
My mother carried a bawdy key fob for over 30 years and it was the cause of much laughter for many people. When she passed the only thing I wanted was that key fob with the bend in it from the time she tried to use it as a screw driver and nick from the time she threw her keys at me for laughing at her funny feet (which match my feet exactly). The feel of that circle of worn metal in my palm is almost like a hug from a crazy red headed dearly missed mother.
Posted by: Cissy | 11/28/2012 at 01:23 PM
key chain made from my daughter's painting. I adore the picture of the babies. There's nothing like a photo of new weim babies to take you back to the moment.
Posted by: Tammy K. | 11/28/2012 at 01:30 PM
Amazing story!!
I have a photo that I keep in my dayplanner I carry everywhere with me. It is my friend Lacey who was 24 when she passed away from liver failure. It was at her last trip to Disneyland (where I work) and she was holding up one of the guest hand-outs that it is my job to design and create for our visitors. Luckilly (or unluckilly, depending on how you look at it) it is an iPhone photo so I won't lose a copy of it - but it is grainy and small. Still, it is the perfect thing to remember her by.
Thanks for sharing :)
Posted by: Katie K | 11/28/2012 at 01:32 PM
My children are my treasures, as well as every animal I have owned. Always near and dear and never to be lost.
Posted by: Stephanie | 11/28/2012 at 01:43 PM
My father passed away a while back and in some ways I am still going through the process of grieving and moving forward. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm crying all the time or anything like that, in fact I'm as normal as I've ever been. (whatever that means) Recently I bought a new camera, a Voigtlander rangefinder, not thinking that it would take me down a path that my father traveled over 60 years ago.
Dad's camera, a Nicca 3 (One of the many Japanese knockoffs of the Leica 3 made in the early fifties - although I've been told this is one of the better ones) The camera, when I took it from my parents house was in ill repair, it leaked light, and was dusty and a bit dirty. I shot a roll of film through it one day and after developing it realized that repairs or retirement was needed. So I ended up at my local camera shop and after a long discussion and some research I went forward and had it repaired. The camera now is as nice as the day it was new, if fact it might even be nicer since the entire thing is adjusted, cleaned, and lubricated and put in optimal order.
I don't think my father ever thought that the camera was going to be a possession passed down from one generation to the next - in fact, my folks had a yard sale one year and almost sold it for 10 dollars. At the yard sale the guy who was interested got to be a little bit snarky in the haggling process and it pissed dad off - so he said the hell with it, took the camera inside and decided not to sell it. From that time on it sat on a shelf in the downstairs office my parents paid their bills in for 15 years.
It's funny, you never really know what objects you will bring forward with you from one generation to the next, however in this case, the camera is literally an old friend that has seen me at some of my best and worst, and now allows me to do the same with my loved ones. While I make images for myself, I see the past reflected in the future of these images made with this camera. While I don't carry this camera that often, I always see it first thing when I get home. It lets me know that I am "home".
Posted by: Matthew Langley | 11/28/2012 at 02:18 PM
I carry a tiny piece of the Berlin Wall. It keeps me grounded. I love it when I reach in for change and come up with the BW piece in the mix.
Flo, please please pick me. I love "Dogs on Rocks." Promise to carry a copy of it in my wallet along with the BW piece.
:)
Posted by: Kathryn Diminnie | 11/28/2012 at 02:23 PM
I had a picture of me and my grandfather that I carried around in my wallet. I was about 3 years old in the picture and neither of us were aware that the picture was being taken. I was sitting on his lap and we were smiling at eachother and you can just tell how much we love eachother. I carried the picture around with me for years, through college, when I was away from him, law school and even when I started practicing law. It just reminded me that somebody out there loved me and was proud of me. When he died, I had that picture placed in his suit pocket, so he would have it when he crossed over and could take it out and remember that there was somebody that loved and missed him.
Posted by: Stephanie Anderson | 11/28/2012 at 02:23 PM
I lost my wallet before leaving my parents house in Texas on a road trip to California. On my way out the door my mom gave me one of my dad's old wallets that his father had given to him as a gift but he never used. The wallet was empty except for one of my dad's old business cards from the job he had when I was a little kid. The card hides behind my drivers license and both it and the wallet are extremely dear to me and a pleasure to put in my pocket every day. Glad you didn't lose that picture!
Posted by: dan schmahl | 11/28/2012 at 02:38 PM
My favorite keepsake has to do with my first Weimaraner, Thunder. She was my pride and joy. This dog went through the trials and tribulations of my marriage and divorce. She was the warm hug when I needed it, the goofy pup when I needed to laugh and the constant listener when I needed to just talk through my delimmas. She passed away on Nov 20, 2010 at the age of 13. Because she was so special, my first dog, I decided to have a diamond created with her cremated ashes. It was a 4 month process for the stone to be formed. When I got the diamond, which was laser engraved with her name and birth / death dates, I had a 'one of a kind' pendant made to enhance the diamond. I wear it around my neck daily as a reminder of the one true thing that supported, cared and loved me, flaws and all. Thunder, my priceless diamond will always be close to my heart.
Posted by: Janet Valentovich | 11/28/2012 at 02:42 PM
I always keep a Croatian coin in my wallet. It's from my last trip with my father who was diagnosed with cancer a few months later. While I enjoy having the reminder, I would like to spend that coin some day.
Posted by: Katherine Brandl | 11/28/2012 at 03:58 PM
No more pictures in my wallet, but in my phone right now ! My colleagues used to say that I show easier pictures of my Weim called 'Strudel' than those concerning my children ... Probably because he's in a way my first child ??
Posted by: TOSTAIN DESMARES | 11/28/2012 at 04:05 PM
my puppy wies broke her leg when she was 14 weeks , i have this photo of her with her plastered leg, it still moves me when i see this
picture .
after one more surgery she was walking again like normal .
now she 's 2,5 and runs like every other dog :)
/Users/anne/Desktop/wies met gipsen poot 18 sept 2010.jpg
Posted by: Acp | 11/28/2012 at 04:30 PM
Nora, the crazy poodle.
Posted by: Mindy Oswald | 11/28/2012 at 04:30 PM
When we visited New York for my birthday there were red roses in our hotel room with a card which said "to the most beautiful women in the world" my husband arranged this for me which was so sweet! The card is in my purse for ever.
Posted by: Daphne Christ | 11/28/2012 at 04:34 PM