Yep, well said. The best collection we could ever have is what we gather for, and keep in, our hearts and minds.
There's a few really special firearms that just make your soul sing. Those are the ones that matter in a collection.
But, with that being said, what if they all got stolen, or burned up in a fire? In the end, they're all just things, they're not our identity. A man has to be able to "stand alone". One day soon, we will all stand stripped and laid bare before our Creator. They won't matter then, other than maybe how they were a stumbling block.
Sadly, I have this personal experience.
Long, long time ago when I was in my mid-20’s, my house was burglarized. Pretty big heist. Lost a grandfather clock that was a wedding present from my parents, jewelery, 35mm camera + equipment, hunting knives, and all of my small gun collection except for my .357 Blackhawk. Other things were taken too. The 1984 value of the total loss was about $10,000. Happened on Good Friday - my then-wife and I were both working that holiday.
I lost the 200th year Ruger M77 .270 wearing a Leupold Vari-X III 3.5x10 which Dad had purchased for me, a beautifully stocked unfired Tikka 7mm Rem Mag (Dad had the exact same gun which I later inherited), an unfired Winchester ‘94, a SKB 200E 12-ga with a luggage case, a Springfield-Stevens semi-auto .22 that Dad had given me as a boy and a Mossberg single-shot bolt action .410 I had purchased from a family friend. As you can see by the details that I still remember about 38 years later, I treasured these guns. And you see the connections to Dad.
I even sold the Blackhawk a few years later and did not replace it.
This burglary experience changed my attitude about collecting guns. Eventually, I purchased two guns. A deer rifle and a shotgun, and I still have both. But it was 35 years before I acquired any more guns. Losing my guns was a painful experience. Only in the past 3 years have I started acquiring guns again.
