1. Some dogs don’t mix well with stuffed animals.
2. Simply hoping can make gardening dreams come true.
3. I hold onto strange items. For years.
Hello Kitty flashlight/keyholder from Miyajima, Japan. No longer holds keys, no longer lights up. 7 years
Feathers are falling off this Mardi Gras mask, but memories of the old woman who gave it to me have made it difficult to ditch. 10 years
Unwieldy pill dispenser that doesn’t stay closed. years unknown
Number of homes to which I have moved this worry stone: 9. Number of times I’ve remembered to hold it while worrying: 0. 17 years
What are you holding onto? Feel free to confess it — leave a reply — below.
Sarah Coomber 
Being a gardener myself, I love #2! It actually reminds me of my own gardening wish recently granted. For several years, I’d been trying to cultivate anise hyssop, a licorice-scented flower known to attract butterflies. I probably bought at least five different plants, put them at different spots in the garden, and every one of them died. Then just last year I bought a new house. My first summer there, I noticed, at the edge of the woods that form the back of the property, an enormous stand of wild anise hyssop. We’ve got plenty of butterflies, and I even drink some licorice tea now and again!
How cool! It must have been meant to be.