When it comes to the meaning behind the words, it’s all personal

Have you ever been troubled by a word? Not a curse word or an offensive term, but an ordinary, everyday word?

Maybe it’s a word that an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend used that drove you crazy, or maybe it’s a word that everyone uses to sound smart. Or, a word that someone once used to deliberately anger you.

Whatever the reason—you hear the word and you’re immediately on edge.

The word currently preying on my mind is “antique.” It sounds absurd—but I can explain.

When I see or hear “antique,” it takes me back to the week my sister and I moved our mom out of her house. She was moving to a much smaller place, the movers were due in three days, and every time we suggested she throw something away, she would accuse us of not caring about memories, not caring about her, and disrespecting our grandmother: “I’m just glad she’s not alive to see how the two of you are acting right now.”

When she realized we were immune to these personal attacks, she started assigning random value to the items we were asking her to toss.

“But it’s an antique.”

“Your Aunt Linda said that was an antique.”

“You can’t find stuff like this anymore. It’s a real antique.”