Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I received the nicest e-mail from Carolann of Chichibean on Etsy in response to Friday's God and Art installment on recycling.
Carolann gave me permission to share this. She said that her story used to be on the profile of her Etsy store.
You are a "Keeper" ~ Thank you. I spent "way too much" time reading
your blog and it was well worth it. (Love the Cain/Abel story).
Yahbut ` Very Clever...Wish I had thought of that.
This is for You:
"KEEPERS" www.vintagechichibean.etsy.com
I grew up with a single parent who had been frightened by the Great
Depression in the 1930's. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum
foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original
recycle queen before they had a Name for it...
It was the time for fixing things; a curtain rod, the kitchen radio,
screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Don't buy new, sew up
the old. Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that
repairing, reusing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. A store bought
dress instead of handmade. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away
meant you knew there'd always be “more“.
But then my mother died, and on that clear September night I was struck
with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes
away ... never to return. So While we have it .. it's best we love it ...
And care for it ... And fix it when it's broken ... And heal it when it's
sick.
This is true ... For marriage .... And old cars .... And children with bad
report cards ..... And dogs and cats with bad hips .... And aging
parents .... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it,
because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that
moved away or an old Blanket we loved as a kid.
So true, Carolann. Thank you for letting me share this because it is a beautiful way to explain the worth of people. Stuff we can get rid of if our house gets too crowded, but once a person is gone he or she can never be replaced.
Shalom,
Lisa
