I found the most poignant blog post today. The writer, Terri Smith is a wedding photographer and her blog is full of photos of blissful brides and grooms. This post is a little different.
Last week Terri came across a bowl she last had put away with sorrow for the loss of her parents. This time the bowl brought smiles and joyful memories of lives well lived.
It’s true. Things we remember our mom using or that auntie always had on the shelf hold our memories. When the time is right you will bring that bowl, that figurine, that special pan out, hold it and smile. Yes, you still miss them. You will always miss them. But holding something special that someone you loved, used and treasured is a tangible connection and a reminder that although they are gone from our lives now, they are not gone from our love and we will see them again.
For me it wasn’t glass. It was this beat up old metal pan my mom used constantly – almost every day – to warm up rolls or buns in the oven. My Mom and Dad died 5 years ago yesterday in a car accident and I miss them every day. I have her pan and we use it and every time I see it I remember her getting it out, putting the rolls in, covering with tin foil and putting in the oven 10 or 15 minutes before breakfast. It makes me smile. Dave might prefer the microwave or the toaster, but he cheerfully hauls out the sacred bun pan and warms up his home made sweet rolls in the oven covered with tin foil for me. That makes me smile too.