Got Fortunes?

I dusted the inside of my china cabinet today. I know, I know -- thrillsville. If you saw how much stuff I had in it, you'd understand why I don't dust very often. Maybe I'll take a picture of it for another post. But anyway ...

One thing I keep in there are fortunes from fortune cookies. I'm not sure when I started saving them or even why, but it had to be in the early 80s when I first started dating Rick. I've been sticking them in a brandy glass for years. I decided to dust off the glass, so I dumped all the fortunes out and counted them. There are 212 fortunes! That includes the ones Rick has gotten, by the way. My collection has slowed down since moving to Montana. There aren't any good Chinese food restaurants here. There's supposed to be a decent one in Polson, about 30 minutes away, so maybe I can try it sometime. It's just one of those weird collections that I don't think about much. I'm going to randomly pull out a few of them ...

• You will travel far and wide for both business and pleasure.
• Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.
• You will be surrounded by things of luxury.
• You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble.
• Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.
• You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands to.
• Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life.

I really like that last one and feel it's so true. Maybe that was Rick's fortune. A long, long time ago he told a friend, "You're only as happy as you let yourself be." A few years back, that same friend contacted Rick out of the blue. He had worked his tail off and became a doctor. He called Rick to tell him that his words stuck with him the whole time he struggled with medical school. You never know how your words are going to affect someone.

How about you -- do you collect anything weird like this?