What is your monkey?

I was sitting at Ms. Independents house the other day just relaxing... we were sitting on the couch watching something on the TV.. it went to commercial and i was just randomly looking around the room. next to her TV stand is a tower that holds the hundreds of DVDs and on top were a couple items. I cant rightly recall what one was but the other was this monkey. It was a stuffed monkey with lanky arms and legs. I thought oh that's cute. So i asked her "So whats the story behind the monkey?" I was expecting some cute story from one of her kids baby days.

And then she says.. "Umm.. err.. well (lets pause for a moment so i can tell you that Ms. Independent also has a Mr. Could-have-been) actually Mr. Gone got it for me.. " i look at her and she is grimacing cause she knows whats coming and i say "Are you kidding me!! you are trying to get over him and here right next to the TV in the middle of your living room is something that HE gave you and has memories behind it to remind you of him!! UGH!!" She is laughing saying well.. well. I hoped up off of the couch and grabbed the monkey all the while muttering under my breath things i don't remember... but i was not mean people come on. shes my best friend after all and i do know what she is going through. I went down the hallway and opened a door and put the monkey in a spot. I could tell you where the monkey is hidden but honestly I'd have to kill you since she doesn't know where it is and i don't want her to find it!!

So lets fast forward a few days....

Ms. Independent is now at my house and we are talking about the decorations in my living room and what would look good to tie it all together. we were talking about turning the table my TV is on and what to put over it to make it less like a kitchen table turned entertainment center. i said yea that could work.. I've got to move those two flower arrangements though. They were bother purple and white. My living room has a Tuscan type color scheme. And she said no i like them they are pretty. I said "yea but i just set them there temporarily.. and anyways that one kind of depresses me." She asked why and before i thought about my answer i said well its from my wedding . And she is off my couch before i know it grabbing the arrangement screaming at me.. "oh my gosh i cant believe this (she is now shaking it at me as walking away with it) after the other day you are sitting here with this in your living room!!!"and she proceeded to stomp down my hallway and put it somewhere while i laughed hysterically on the couch listening to a door slam.

She comes back and we both start laughing and when we finally catch our breath i said "I cant believe I had a monkey!"

Now i think everyone keeps a monkey from somewhere in their life... some little reminder of a event or time. And monkeys usually bring back a reminder of a good moment.. but when you really think about what comes with that memory ... probably there is a person or thing that you really want to leave behind... or have to in order to move forward in your life.

So I ask you.. my readers... What is YOUR monkey?