What's left...

I'm not entirely sure how my collection started. I remember my boyfriend at the time was named David (not my husband) and I think he was the one who bought me my first one. Then suddenly, people just started buying them for me. The strangest part is, I don't even like the candy.

At the height of my collection, I had well over 200 Pez Dispensers. Although I had 200 of them, I only had about 110 unique dispensers. That means for 90 of the designs, I had multiple dispensers. Those were the ones I was most proud of. I would look at my display and think how lucky I was to have two Snowman Dispensers, one loose and one in it's original blister pack. I would laugh at people who would ask why it was important I had two of each (that was my ultimate goal) and think, "Well isn't it obvious? I want them...just BECAUSE". How clever I was.

Several months after I had started collecting, my family took a trip to California to celebrate my brother's graduation from grad school. And before we left, I knew that I would be making a little side trip. Never mind the fact that my siblings were making fun of me. Never mind the fact that I was the only one who wanted to go. Never mind the fact that it was a good 45 minutes away from where we were. How could I visit California without visiting my mecca? I knew that come hell or high water, I would be visiting the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia.

I slowly came to realize that while I liked the dispensers, I didn't really know why I was collecting them. It wasn't a collection I had started for myself. It was if someone said "You should collect these" and I just blindly agreed. This realization came very soon after I had stopped dating the David who had started my collection. Coincidence? Probably not.

I eventually took down the display in my bedroom, but I had a hard time actually getting rid of the dispensers. I had spent a lot of money on them (relatively speaking, of course) and I had grown a little attached to them. After they stayed in a box in my basement for well over a year, I finally parted with them. There were some specific designs that I gave away to other collectors. I sold a few on Ebay. I even gave away one of my favorite motorized dispensers at a Christmas party. But the majority of the collection ended up in the dumpster.

There were several that I couldn't part with. My daughter, Emma, has laid claim to what's left and they have become one of her favorite pasttimes. As I sit at the computer, she loves dumping the basket out and asking me the name of each dispenser. While the collection was someone else's idea of what I should be interested in, they really do make me smile.

This is an entry into Scribbit's monthly Write Away Contest. August's theme was Collections.