Friends who make you think and remember are the best kinds of friends. For me one of those friends is Sue. Sue retired seven years ago but whenever we ask her to join us for our annual School Full of Readers celebration, she never says no. We always look forward to seeing what’s in her bag because it’s never just about the book. This year was no different.
This year Sue brought along a candle stick/holder, a pin and two books. One of those books was Significant Objects by Jason Grote and Joshua Glen. (I don’t remember the name of the second book; while that is the book Sue read from, it’s not necessary to this post.) Sue explained the premise of Significant Objects - that when you add a story to an object it becomes more valuable. Sue’s mom, now almost 90, took the time to write and tape a note to the bottom of the candlestick - what year it was from, who used it and where it was used. The pin had an etching on it and was signed by the artist; Sue did research on the artist and a story evolved, thus the significance and worth became greater.
That night as I was doing some food shopping I came across the season’s first pfeffernuesse display. Pops loved pfeffernuesse cookies. He also loved Mallomars, Fig Newtons, Rice Krispies, Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue, the NY Times Magazine puzzle pages, and biographies, among other things. As we go through the grief/remembrance process it has not been unusual to receive a text or an email from one of my siblings with a photo attached - a pallet of Mallomars at Costco, the Corningware outlet in Maine. For me when I come across something that is inherently Wally I can’t help but smile because it doesn’t matter what it is, there’s a story that goes along with it.
As I sometimes do, I substitute one word for another and as I thought about this blog post I often found myself referring to sacred objects. If you have lost a loved one you totally get this. My sisters and I wear a necklace with two charms on it - one says sisters, the other is a Joan of Arc medal. It is our way of honoring our mom and sister. My friend Fionnuala has a cornucopia pin that comes out this time of year. She and her sisters and sisters-in-law purchased it while her dad was in hospice. Her dad loved Thanksgiving and passed away the day after. That pin is sacred.
As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and then Christmas, there’s little doubt in my mind that plenty of stories will be told as china is laid out and ornaments hung. The story may be as simple as remembering the second grader who gifted me with the angel that sits atop our tree. (Ben was a thoroughly delightful kid who at seven loved a good political joke. He died tragically in his early twenties and the angel went from from significant to sacred.)
Significant? Sacred? In the end I’m not sure it matters. What matters are the stories we tell and the love those stories evoke as we remember.
So here's to stories of love and the objects and people who bring them together.
LIFE IS RANDOM LOVE IS NOTTM
