“Use the good ones, they are in the top cupboard.” my Mom said,
“It is only us,” I replied. It was a Sunday dinner and we always stopped at her place for the noon
meal on the way home from church. The kids counted on it, and knew Grandma would have something
special.
“What am I saving them for?” she asked as I reached for the good china, something that was
reserved for special company when I was a kid. I thought about having a 5 and very active 3 year old
eating on her best China. It was only after I had my own grandson that I realized she might have thought
of them as the most important company she would ever have. (That is another lesson for another post).
Then last week the magic of Facebook showed me a picture I had posted 3 years ago to the day.
It was the day my daughter delivered the sweater she knit for me and I modeled it on our deck. It then
went to the top shelf of my closet and is 3 years old and had not seen the light of day.
When she gave it to me, my daughter gave me clear instructions, “You wear it, after all the work
I put into it I don’t want it sitting on the shelf till we bury you in it. Do you understand?” I replied I did.
My daughter is a communicator, and I got the message, but I put it away in my closet, saving it.
The picture on Facebook and some things that have happened recently got me thinking, “What
am I saving it for? It is like my Mom’s good china. The sweater did not do any good in the closet.
I have worn my sweater for 3 outings in the last week, they might be only my walks in isolation,
but I know that I have worn my sweater.
Too often we save things or leave them for another time, and many times it is a time that never
comes. The message today is an easy one, sit down and write that book you have been talking about, or at
least a chapter that will be left for someone else.
Use your good pen, your good (wine) glasses and enjoy the moment because we don’t know
how many moments we might have but more importantly we can enjoy the moment with our good stuff.
My Mom liked seeing her granddaughter use that china, I know that I feel good in that sweater,
and I will keep using it.
What are your best memories about? Things you saved or things you did? Think about that the
next time you put something away for another day.
Life is now.