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MY HOMETOWN | FAMILIAR SAYINGS HAUNT ALTOONANS | MY SOUL-MATE | MY DEAR DAUGHTER | TYLER'S PHOTO CONTEST | GAGE'S PHOTO CONTEST | GLOBES MADE of GRANDKIDS | A POEM OF TRUTH | YOU CAN'T GO WRONG | FAMILY PETS | MY MOTHER | MY FAMILY PICTURES | ANGEL IN WAITING | IN MEMORY~~MY BEST FRIEND | MY LAKE & SNOW APPLETS | MY MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PAGE | CARROT, EGG, & COFFEE | GOT YOUR BACK | TRIBUTE TO BETTY BOOPS | I LOVED YOU ENOUGH | A STORY TO LIVE BY | TO BELIEVE | YOU ARE SPECIAL | BE THANKFUL | I'M FINE~~HOW ARE YOU? | BEGINNING OF A NEW DAY | GOD BLESS | BE WHO YOU ARE | DO THE SIMPLE THINGS | JUDGE GENTLY | FRIENDSHIP IS A BLESSING | THE POEM | AS I'VE MATURED.... | MY AWARDS | MY AWARDS II | MY AWARDS III | DIVINE DIVAS | FAVORITE LINKS | LOYAL VOTERS WALL
A STORY TO LIVE BY
My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my
sister's bureau and lifted out a package.
"This" he said, "is not a slip. This is lingerie."
He discarded the tissue and handed me the slip.
It was exquisite: silk, handmade, and trimmed
with cobweb of lace. The price tag with an
astronimical figure, on it was still attached.
"Jan bought this the first time she went to New York,
at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it.
She was saving it for a special occasion.
Well, I guess this is the occasion."
He took the slip from me and put it on the bed
with the other clothes we were taking to the mortician.
His hands lingered on the soft material for a moment,
then he slammed the drawer shut and turned to me.
"Don't ever save anything for a special occasion.
Every day you are alive is a special occasion."
I remembered those words through the funeral and
the days that followed when I helped him and my niece
attend to all the sad chores that follow an unexpected death.
I thought about them on the plane returning to California
from the Midwestern town where my sister's family lives.
I thought about all the things she hadn't seen or heard or done.
I thought about the things that she had done without
realizing that they were special.
I'm still thinking about his words, and they have changed my life.
I'm reading more and dusting less.
I'm sitting on the deck and admiring the view without
fussing about the weeds in the garden. I'm spending more time
with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings.
Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to
savor, not endure.
I'm trying to recognize these moments now and cherish them.
I'm not "saving" anything; we use our good china and crystal
for every special event-such as losing a pound, getting the sink
unstopped, the Camellia blossom.
I wear my good blazer to the market if I feel like it. My theory
is if I look prosperous, I can shell out $28.49 for one small bag
of groceries without winching.
I'm not saving my good perfume for special parties.
Clerks in hardware stores and tellers in banks have noses that
function as well as my party-going friends.
"Someday and one of these days" are losing their grip on my
vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to
see and hear and do it now. I'm not sure what my sister would
have done had she known that she wouldn't be here for the
tomorrow we all take for granted. I think she would have
called family members and a few close friends She might
have called a few former friends to apoligize and mend fences
for past squabbles.
I like to think that she would have gone out for a Chinese
dinner, her favorite food.
I'm guessing~~I'll never know.
It's those little things left undone that would make me
angry if I knew that my hours were limited.
Angry because I put off seeing good Friends whom
I was going to get in touch with~~someday.
Angry because I hadn't written certain letters that I
intended to write~~one of these days.
Angry and sorry that I didn't tell my husband and daughter
often enough how much I truly love them.
I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save
anything that would add laughter and luster to our lives.
And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that
it is special.
Every day, every minute, every breath truly is~~~~~~~
a gift from God.
You've got dance like nobody's watching,
and love like it's never going to hurt.
People say true friends must always hold hands,
but true friends don't need to hold hands because
they know that the other hand will always be there.
Author
Anne Wells
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