Treasures

TREASURES

When I was a young girl my Grandma Bessie told me a story about a dear neighbor friend who passed away. After several years her husband remarried. Grandma Bessie and her friends noticed, as they became acquainted with their new neighbor, that all the treasures, heirloom linens and valuables that their friend had stowed away for years, because they were too valuable to use or keep out, were all being used on a daily basis and displayed everywhere in the home. As they watched the new wife enjoy all the things they knew their friend never allowed herself to enjoy, while she was alive, they determined that this was not going to happen to them! So out came everything. They started using all their fine china and linens and once hidden keepsakes were now placed where they could see them. It no longer mattered that they might break or get worn out. All around them, now, were beautiful things that gladdened their hearts and filled their minds with sweet memories.

You can probably imagine, as the mother of ten children, that I have seen amazing amounts of broken, crashed and destroyed - and because of the lesson learned at a grandmother’s knee, I have probably provided opportunity for more things to break than a seemingly wiser approach would have allowed.

I was reminded of my long-held determination to be true to my Grandma the other day. I have a smiling sunshine plate that was painted by my seven-year old daughter, Annie, twelve years ago. It makes me happy everyday. I noticed a few days ago that it had been broken and then carefully glued back together. It was not perfect anymore – but the sunshine of my Annie was still smiling back at me – and the beautiful thing about this is - I haven’t missed a day of Annie’s sun shining into my heart for twelve years.