Mope Chest
When my ex-husband graduated from veterinary school, I wanted to do something special. We were on a tight budget as I’d recently finished graduate school and we had mountains of student loans. I thought about who he was in college and after and how much of that was going to change as we began our life as a couple and a young family. I wanted something thoughtful, clever and affordable.
An old and outdated tradition for young girls growing up is to make a HOPE chest, where in we are supposed to put all those things that we will need when we get married. Things like linens, napkins, embroidered towels and such. We are taught that our life ‘begins’ when we get married and our HOPE chest is symbolic of all we anticipated we would need to set up house with our man.
Men on the other had begun their livelihood much earlier when they join their first group/team/club/sport/academic endeavor. They are pushed from the nest to start living and being the very best they can be. These years of youth are the ‘best’ when men are at their athletic peak (strongest, meanest, leanest, toughest, roughest – you get the picture), their mental pinnacle full of promise.
It seems unfortunate that men have been denied the comfort of a safe place, a box to keep their prized possessions, trinkets and treasures. In the interest of fair treatment and equal opportunity I offer up this MOPE chest. The expectation of an adult man is that you will generally spend the rest of your life pining for the past, the glory days. I have made it easy for you to efficiently reminisce about how good you were when.
I took all of his trophies from lacrosse, had his newspaper clippings laminated, some photos framed, some ribbons, and awards and packed them into a beautiful wooden chest. I created a funny, but also thoughtful and ultimately useful gift. We used that little chest for many years with our furniture and when we split, I know he keeps it in his garage. I know that someday he will open it and show our children and his grandchildren. He will be reminded of the stories from college and veterinary school that are no longer stored in the front of his mind.
My always humorous brother-in-law said, “let me get this straight you took all his own stuff, wrapped it up, put it in a box and then gave it back him?” I laughed, “essentially, yes.”