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I lived with my grandmother for nearly my entire life, as is customary in my culture. She played a major role in raising me and my siblings, and was a secondary maternal figure for us all. This is one of the many shawls she would drape around herself. This summer she passed away and this shawl is a small piece of her that I carry with me.

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This a doll from the Philippines my nanny gave me when I was little. (Don't judge me for having a nanny as a child...I know it sounds bougie) But for the first few years of my life, I spent everyday with my nanny Eva. She was Filipina and brought me this after one of her trips home. She knew I loved Barbie and wanted me to have a doll that reflected where she was from! I've kept it my whole life as a reminder of someone who was important in my life and who I don't see anymore. I was a bit hesitant to post this because I feel like admitting you had a nanny is embarrassing and sounds so privileged lol. But I had two working parents who needed help and Eva was such a big part of my childhood.

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These are just a pair of goggles I use to race. I've had them for a long time, I used to have a mirrored version but they broke. I have been using these for the past 7-8+? years. They no longer make this type of goggle so I keep these in a case and need to make them last. Swimming has been and is a large part of my life and these goggles have been with me for a long time. It's just a reminder of how far I've come and all that I've done in that time.

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This jersey was given to me from one of the athletes I used to work with. As we were both huge LSU football fans, he gave me this jersey as a thank you gift for helping him receiving a full scholarship to the University of Toledo.

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This is a small painting by my friend Elly, she did this for me when I was going through a rough time.

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My object is a Masai Talking stick. I received when visiting Tanzania. It reminds me of friends I am made in that community. The intricate work that went into making a item to symbolize turn taking and story telling also reminds me of the importance of listening to others stories (especially as I am someone who can have trouble talking too much in group settings)

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These are the first pair of cleats I got when I was young. I was really excited when I got them and to this day I still get excited when I get a new pair. Soccer and rugby have been a huge part of my life and these cleats represent the beginning of a long and thrilling journey through the years.

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My mom always wore a ring similar to the one pictured. When I was little, she would tuck me into bed and, as she was bringing the covers up to my chin, she would often accidentally scratch me with the pointy part of the diamond. I hated the scratching obviously, but always thought it was the prettiest ring. She promised me that I could have it when I was older, and she gave it to me shortly before she passed away. Every time I look at it, I am reminded of her and I giggle at how many times it used to (and continues to) scratch me (lol).

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My partner is living near Montreal while I moved here for school, but we're keeping one of each other's stuffed animals with us for right now. I originally left them my Foxy when they were sick with covid and they left me Caramel over the summer after I injured myself badly, but now we have each of them even if we're apart for a while! <3

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This is a watch that my grandpa left for me when he was in the hospital. I wear it anytime I'm going to see extended family or whenever I need a pick-me-up, because it reminds me of the person I look up to the most.

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Rachel Breen

This belt buckle belonged to my grandpa and is something that always reminds me of him and the great times I spent with him as a child. It also reminds me of a great story with him, when we were on a family vacation to Disney world. My grandpa was a bigger man and always had a long white beard. Anyways, we were on the train heading to a Disney park and he was wearing this buckle and two little boys came up to him and wanted his autograph because they thought he was Santa.

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During one of the many lockdowns of the pandemic, when I was feeling particularly trapped and stir crazy in the house, my boyfriend bought me this huge Lego set. We rewatched all the Harry Potter movies while building this castle. It was a great and fun way to get our minds off of the pandemic and kept us busy. It pretty much got me through the last lockdown. It is now on permanent display in our house.

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I'm not a very sentimental person. I purge a lot of "things", and don't prescribe emotion to many objects. My dog Molly's collar is an exception, though. She was my family dog growing up, and as I'm sure a lot of you know, losing a pet is one of the hardest things! I kept this as a reminder to the great memories with her, and to recall the support my family gave each other during a tough time.

I was thinking of posting a picture of me wearing this, but thought that might be inappropriate...

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This is a picture of my grandfather's Royal Canadian Air Force patch, which he wore on his uniform during the years of WWII. He was an air force instructor, who helped train and evaluate hundreds of pilots who went off and fought in the war.

It's significant to me because he was my role model and hero growing up, and he died recently so it's a memento I keep to remind me of him.

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My prized possession is my keyboard that my aunt and uncle gave me years ago. It's just been a channel for my focus and creativity when I feel like I'm not doing so hot. Wish I brought it with me to Ottawa. (It's obviously not the one in the stock image I posted)

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This is a guitar that I custom-built to my own design and specifications. This was a project I started in May 2019 and completed in February 2020. I am a self-taught guitarist and have owned quite a few guitars in my life. The design of the guitar was inspired by some favourite guitarists of mine (and their instruments), with a few added features that I tend to admire in other guitars. Other than cutting the wood, I assembled this guitar from top to bottom and it was an invaluable experience. I challenged myself to see if I could actually complete a hobby project and at the end got a guitar that I wouldn't trade for the world!

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a special edition (illustrated) copy of Ocean at the Endo of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Because it is a book I have read so many times and love I can still read it when I am too tired or too stressed to read (being tired and/or stressed can make dyslexia worse).

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This is my dog Kirby. My family and I got him when I was very young, and he has experienced a large part of my life with me, and has always been by my side. He is very meaningful to me.

- Will

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It was the end of a tree planting season and I was sharing with a fellow planter that I was heading to Thailand for the winter to visit my mom and travel around South East Asia. She had been there before, and took out this tiny happy buddha statue and placed it in my hand. She told me it brought her good luck on her travels. It has travelled with me many places and still sits on my nightstand over 15 years later. Grateful for her gift and the reminder to laugh always even when things seem unknown.

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This was my first stuffed animal, given to me from my parents when I was able to start daycare. (I think this is actually replica #3, the others got lost along the way, but I didn't know that at)
This 'gator' travelled everywhere with me and created a sense of guardianship when my parents weren't around. Apparently I relied on it more than food or my soother

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These two keep me happy<3 They are both very loving so when I'm ever upset they know how to change that. I wasn't a cat fan when I was younger but they have changed that for me

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The object I've chosen is a song. This song has helped me through a lot of rough mental times and really helps me to remember to just jeep going on and knowing that I am on the right path.

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Last summer I worked at the Tim Hortons Childrens Ranch in Alberta.
One of my campers wanted to make me a bracelet with my name on it, except the bead basket was out of the letter E
He seemed really excited about it so I gladly accepted the name CarfBfar :)
It reminds me of the times when I was his age, making bracelets for my mom.
I forget why I ever stopped, I still love her just as much.

- Elvin G

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This chair is where I spend most of my time reading, albeit mostly children's books with my daughter.

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My grandma puts one of these together for each of her grandchildren, it's a collection of stories gathered from family members. so cute!
-Katie J

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This is my gnome I bought when I visited Latvia with my family in 2018. It was a very meaningful family trip and I got a matching gnome for my mother while in her mother's birthplace.

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If you can't tell this is a volleyball made out of wood blocks. It was a birthday gift from my grandpa 7 years ago now, and all my family members signed it. Volleyball was and is a huge part of my life so it meant a lot to have all my family supporting me.

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This car was my first major purchase. I had to work a minimum wage job to save up enough money for university and this car. It gave me a sense of accomplishment and freedom to go wherever and whenever I wanted.

Matt

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This is my dog Newton. Growing up I was never much of a dog person but I really love how he is always excited to see me when I come home.

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When I was born, my Grandma gave this to me. It used to play music, but hasn't worked for many years now. She used a gold marker to match this etching and wrote my name and birthday on the back. I don't remember my Grandma because she passed when I was a baby, so this is one of the few trinkets from her that I always have on display.

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This is the silver medal I got when working with the women's rugby team last fall. It's meaningful to me because we put in such hard work and its a souvenir of the amazing season and all the wonderful people I got to meet.

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Oliver is my pet hamster. He is important to me because he is my companion in Ottawa. I get a lot of love for him and I have lots of fun playing with him and spoiling him.

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At a summer camp I worked at we were coding these little motors, in order to try and get hot wheels cars to move long distances. The kids loved the camp, and I was able to snag this bad boy from the pile of left-over cars as a memento! It's sat on my desk ever since, and it becomes festive every year around Halloween.