In 1980 Kathy and Karl were two young students of at a Temple University course that I taught on stamp collecting. They were both in their twenties. He was a graphic designer and she was a teacher. They both lived in the downtown part of Philadelphia and met for they first time at the class. Like most philatelic classes or clubs, the average age of this group was elderly and Kathy and Karl were the only two young people in the class. As the weeks progressed you could see a friendship beginning between the two of them and it was cute to see them whispering together. One evening Karl came into class with both his arms in plaster casts to the elbows. Kathy was helping him. The story was that the two of them were out on a date-their first date- and were walking home from the restaurant when Karl decided to show off a bit. There was a chain linked across a driveway to prevent cars from entering and Karl said to Kathy “watch this” and as he jumped over the chain his ankles caught and he went down on his hands breaking both his wrists. Needless to say Karl couldn’t hold his stamp tongs and Kathy was indispensable. When his casts were removed they were married. Once their two kids were out of school and beginning their careers, Kathy and Karl were thinking of resuming their collection. Karl told me that they always loved their collection and what it meant to them in their lives together but that with the kids and the demands of their jobs they never had the time to devote to collecting actively. But now they were going to begin again the hobby of their youth.
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