Sunday, September 11, 2011

just how she felt

My mother lost her wedding band. One day it was snug and safe on her finger and the next...... well, it wasn't. We tried to remember when we had seen it last. We looked in all of the places one might be inclined to put a ring. "It's not really lost," I said, clearly in denial. "It's just misplaced." Lost has such a heart gripping finality. Misplaced on the other hand, is a word infused with hope.
As months passed we reluctantly accepted the fact that her ring might never be found, might indeed be lost forever.
Last summer, my parents celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary. A sister who is made up of equal parts, spontaneity and sentimentality seized the occasion to replace my mother's band on my father's behalf. A loving gesture.
Yesterday as I swept my mother's kitchen floor, I knelt and peered under the edge of a cabinet. It was the sort of spot that called for a vacuum. A crevice tool would have made short work of that dust, but providentially I stooped, delving with the long stiff bristles of the broom. It took a bit to wrestle out the dust and mysterious fossilized fragments, a bit of hard plastic, a dried leaf, and there, gleaming dully, my mother's golden wedding band.
I rushed up the stairs.
"Sit down Mom," I announced dramatically. "I have something wonderful to tell you."
There is a story in the Bible about a woman who loses a coin. It was the middle eastern version of a wedding band, something worn as a bridal adornment.
She lit a lamp and swept her house.
And found her coin.
And called her neighbors and rejoiced!!! That which was lost is found.
We know just how she felt.

2 comments:

  1. i don't know why but i always find myself smiling through teary eyes when i read what you've written.

    "I love writing. I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions." -- James Michener


    "The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium." -- Norbet Platt

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you... what a lovely compliment. I find that Auntie Fran is the master of combining laughter and tears. I love her writing for that reason.

    ReplyDelete