4. Stories for our 1000th newsletter !!!   
      
   We try to post stories and comments from our readers each week. Send your   
   story to newsletter@tias.com and we'll publish it in an upcoming newsletter.    
   Please share your story about what you collect and what got you started   
   collecting.  We *love* to hear your stories!  If you have a story you'd like   
   to share, tell us about it and if you have any photos, we'd love to see them!    
   Send us an email to newsletter@tias.com so we can share your story with the   
   rest of our readers.   
      
   The Susann Figurine   
      
   The lovely Florence of California "Susann" figurine, in the attached pictures,   
   is one of my dearest possessions.  She was "saved" from a trash bin by an even   
   dearer friend.  We attend a local flea market together during the summer and   
   he always keeps on eye on the trash bins near the end of the market day.    
   Often sellers will discard items that haven't sold and that they prefer not to   
   transport home, and he's found quite a few valuable and useful items.  On one   
   lovely August Sunday, as we returned to the car, my friend presented me with   
   "Susann".   
      
   While fishing for something of interest to himself, he found her dumped in the   
   trash bin.  Not sure if she had "any worth", but knowing I appreciate pretty   
   vintage figurines, he salvaged her for me.  Maybe some, even many, people   
   would not care to receive a gift salvaged from the trash.  I am not one of   
   them, she is all the more special for having survived such an awful fate.  My   
   "Susann" is in perfect condition with the exception of a broken pinky finger   
   on her left hand, holding the flower basket.  Even the tiny flower petals are   
   all intact.  I have only been able to find a few examples of this piece online   
   and almost without exception they have broken fingers.   
      
   How sad that someone thought her so worthless as to throw her away. How   
   fortunate for me that they did and that my friend thought of me when he found   
   her.  She resides in a small display cabinet in my kitchen with a number of   
   other items that have their own stories or remind me, like a snapshot, of some   
   wonderful and special day.   
      
   Those, like the day I received "Susann" are not the great milestone days, they   
   are the simple days, spent with special people sometimes doing special things   
   and more often doing everyday things, that are just perfect times.  The   
   kitchen may not seem like a wonderful place for a prized possession but that   
   is where I spend most of my time and I can always see and enjoy her there.    
   Thank you for listening. Debra.  (See photos of this figurine at:   
   http://on.fb.me/1FU9GAk )   
   --------------------------   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Dada-2   
    * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)