Aging with Grace: Using Beautiful Breakable Things
Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 12:00AM I have things in my home I rarely use. Some because I forgot I have them. Some because don’t remember what they are for. (That explains the wide array of seemingly downsized phone chargers floating around the house)
Something I don’t use because they are meaningful to me and I’m afraid they are going to be broken or wear out. My grandmother’s china falls into the first category and the shawl I knitted the latter. Meanwhile both collect dust.
It was cool here yesterday. I retrieved the shawl from the storage closet and I am going to use it though this winter. I’m not sure about my grandmother’s china but I want to get it out of the china closet and into our lives more often.
Do you have anything you are reluctant to use because it might be broken or worn out?
How do you live with and enjoy beautiful things in your home?
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Reader Comments (4)
No, actually, I feel if I can't use it, I don't want it. That's just me. Life is short, why save perfume for a special day? Or your grandma's china? Instead, make some tea with your good china, put on your shawl and sit outside and read a good book : ) Savor the moment!
I have a few things that are pretty 'special' like that. But after receiving an e-mail a few years ago I have pulled those things out and used and enjoyed them more. The e-mail talked about a woman who passed away and when they went through her things there were all kind of things 'saved' that had never been enjoyed. I don't want to have that happen in my life. I love that you pulled out the shawl. Those ties to our past are sweet.
I wore my mothers beautiful diamond and sapphire jewelry (as is the custom in our family) when I was married. Since I was the last one married, I hold the jewelry till the next sibling ties the knot. I have been afraid to wear it, worrying that the back would slip off of the diamond earrings and I would lose them. I took them out this year for our annual Christmas party with the intention of wearing them, but the same fears overtook me.
Reluctantly I chose another pair of not-as-spectacular earrings and went to the party. As the night wore on I looked over at my teenage children eating at another table with their friends, and in my daughter's dainty ears were my Mother's earrings! Shocking! I was about to give her a piece of my mind (well, I did give her a small piece) but they looked so pretty with her snazzy Christmas finery that I told her she looked beautiful, my mother probably would have smiled. Next time I'm wearing them!
I use everything especially the most precious to me. I don't know when I am going to leave this world so when will I be able to enjoy them, if not now.
Life is short as they say. We don't accumulate things for the sake of accumulating, but for those wonderful moments that's shared in the company of our loved ones using these objects.
Cheers!