I have said before that I am a materialistic person. I like my pretty things...I can't help it...it's part of who I am. My father had two mothers...his parents divorced when he was young and my grandfather then married Helen or as we called her MooMoo (Swedish for grandmother). My father's biological mother was Mary and she was a hoot (we won't go into that). Mary collected and traded Antiques and as a young girl I loved looking at all her pretty things. Helen was beautiful and refined and had great taste. My mother's mother had some beautiful pieces of china locked away in her china cabinet that she displayed but never used. I now own along with my sister Lisa most of the things that all 3 grandmothers had.
This china cabinet belonged to my mom's mother Bessie...
This chocolate pot and cups belonged to dad's mom Mary.....
The rose lamps in my living room were a gift from my mom's dad James to Bessie...
they were her prized possessions...
and the house I live in belonged to Helen and my grandfather...
and then there is just pretty stuff that's mine like this bowl Lisa gave me one day just because...
or this bobble I bought myself a few months back because I needed a present...
the antique ink well...
and I have more jewelry than any woman needs...
All of this stuff is great...but that's just what it is stuff...and someday I'll be gone and this stuff will belong to someone else. I like looking at it...it's pretty...but at the end of the day it doesn't talk to you or ask you how your day was. I grew up in a big old Victorian house...I loved that house and when my mom sold it a few years back because it was just too big for her... my siblings and I mourned. Every time I drove past that house I would cry. The day Lisa's boyfriend Harvey died 5 years ago I stopped crying for the house. It was just a place we lived not a human being.
In the past several months I have had time to ponder lots of things. One thing that is abundantly clear to me is the importance of family and friends and healthy relationships. When we are getting ready to leave this life it's not going our china or lamps that we will be thinking of...it's going to be the people we love and who love us.
I've made some new friends in the past 8 months...and I've really enjoyed it. It surprises me how much you can have in common with people who were strangers to you such a short time ago.
I had lunch with an old friend today. I've seen him here and there through the years and we say hey or just laugh at each other. Just looking at this guy would bust me up remembering some of the crazy stuff we did as teenagers. We met in a restaurant in town and talked for what seemed like hours. It amazes me that we haven't had a real conversation in over 30 years but we just picked back up like we had talked just last week. Some friends are like that. It was very natural and easy.
Stuff is great and pretty to look at...but at the end of the day...it's family and friends that are at the heart of it...nothing is as important as human beings and relationships...all the money in the world can't buy love or happiness...and I would sell all my pretty things in a minute if a friend needed something...
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