Buckle Up!

My nineteen-year-old son J is very good with money. He has a job during the school year when he’s away at college, and this is the second consecutive summer he’s worked his tail off at his job here in town for the express purpose of making a maximum contribution towards the cost of his tuition.

I think it’s all that squirreling away he does with his money that doesn’t make me blink an eye when he tells me he’s spending what I might think is a crazy amount of money on something. He works hard, covers his tuition commitment to us, and is otherwise responsible with his finances (all good qualities in a business major, don’t you think?), so the occasional treat is well-deserved, in my opinion.

The latest thing? A belt buckle.

I’m not telling you how much it cost him, except to say “A LOT”. The shipping cost almost as much as the belt buckle itself, but apparently this belt buckle is special because the design on it is from a video game or something and it’s hard-to-find, maybe? I’m not sure. All I know is that after I gave him the required comical motherly chin drop at the cost, I proceeded to give him a hard time about this acquisition. I mean, he’s already got fourteen belt buckles. How many belt buckles does one person need? I think his answer would be “A LOT.”

He started collecting them a couple years back after his girlfriend bought him a mustache belt buckle and then his brother bought him one from the Philmont Scout Ranch, where he worked for the summer. After that his collection took off.

Belt buckles

This belt buckle that’s in transit to our house as I type this is probably not the last one, if I had to guess. There are worse collections, anyway. I think this is sort of fun.

Here’s the surprise twist to the story, and something J didn’t know until reading this (Hi, J!): sometimes it’s the smallest, most unexpected characteristic or habit that just may have a root in genetics.

Observe if you will, two of my very most-prized possessions that I’ve been carrying around since my teen years:

Melisa's belt buckles

That’s right, belt buckles.

And no J, you can’t have them.

12 Comments

  • Sylvia Joy

    Your’s look very familiar to me did we buy those for you or at least was I with you when you got them?
    Also I think that is a great collection for J to do. I am so glad he does so well with saving. ” Love you J”.

    Love
    Grandma W

  • Erica R

    Love that one of the buckles is for Goss graphics systems! Where did get get that one? I used to work for them!

  • mags

    Hahahaha-this is great. It reminds me of an episode of Big Bang Theory when Sheldon for some reason is in debt to Howard, who is also a belt buckle collector. He has Sheldon polish his huge box of buckles. After dumping them out, he said, “Ironically I only have one belt.”

    Or something like that. Ha!

    • Melisa Wells

      Yes, I actually told a friend on FB today (after she referenced Howard) that we are the only family in the world that doesn’t watch that show, but I did google him so I could educate myself. 🙂

      And I think J only has one belt or maybe two, but he switches the buckles out all the time.

    • Melisa Wells

      Excellent eye, and although it is not a Princess Leia belt buckle (It’s actually supposed to be Sarah, from the Bible! Oddly enough! LOL), it is reminiscent of her and that’s exactly the reason I love it so much. 🙂