Couple of weeks ago whilst in the midst of packing my stuff, I decided that this bag, like the other one, too had to go.
At first I wasn't sure.
It still was in quite a good condition, it still could be used, and more importantly, this bag, actually, wasn't mine.
No doubt I had been using it for almost 6 years, even hanging a little lion stuffie on it, but in fact it was on a borrowed status, and this bag originally belonged to a lady who bought it 9 years ago during a very trying season when she was rehabilitating from a stroke and going through physiotherapy to recover the use of her affected left leg and arm.
In a season like that one tends to buy a lot of things.
So at the BATA store in Peninsula Plaza one day she picked out this bag from the shelf, fished inside her old bag for a 50 dollar note, and paid for it.
How long she carried this blue handbag for, I cannot remember now- probably a year give and take- but one day she decided that there wasn't any much of a point carrying this bag out anymore, so aside the bag went.
There it sat unused for a season of time- probably about two years or so- until one day I was desperately looking around for a handbag to carry to a last minute professional meeting, and (with permission from her family) I borrowed it.
Time passed and the bag (sort of) became mine after a while.
But a few years after I had to stop carrying it.
Not because I felt like I shouldn't borrow it or use it but because the bag somehow seemed very heavy after my day to day belongings were placed in it, and despite my best efforts I found it hard to brush away the uncomfortable ache spreading over my shoulders.
Eventually other bags came into place and this one became left behind.
I haven't used this bag in probably over two years.
It's just been sitting there.
You know, one of the questions I asked myself before tossing this bag away into the bin was whether I would use this bag again in the future.
The answer was no.
It wasn't the only question I asked.
I asked myself too whether it was something the original owner still cherished.
The answer too was, in all likelihood, no.
Maybe she might recognize it, maybe she might not.
I don't know.
I'm not sure whether she still remembers it.
And even if she does, I'm not sure whether she wants to be reminded of a time where she tried so hard to be strong, carrying all the things she thought she might need, every day, to CART at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, even though the design of the bag probably tired her out and made her commute more challenging than she assumed it would be.