Precious Treasures Gained & Lost
In my life I have gained and lost many precious treasures. I can be cliche and say that my children are my precious treasures -- that goes without saying. But I'm talking about material precious treasures that have a sentimental value to them. I'm going to be sharing a few of those precious items in this blog.
My first precious treasure that I received actually came from my Godmother. She bought me a beautiful 14K Gold Emerald Ring. It was delicate and had what looked like gold round daisy petals that extended outside the edge of the darkest of green emerald. That little ring I wore every second of everyday since the day she gave it to me. I had already worn it for years. I wore that ring up until sixth grade. One day at recess, we were all taking turns on the round rings that we would hang off and go in circles until we couldn't take the pain on our hands and would then fall off. I had already been doing the rings several times and my hand was starting to blister. So I asked a group of my friends to please watch my little ring carefully as I took my last turn. I was so hesitant to take it off, but my hand was starting to get a blister right above where the ring sat on my finger. So I set it on the bench with my sweater. Well after I took my turn, I went to get my ring and it was gone. I panicked and I asked my friends if one of them had it. They all said that one boy that was there had picked it up and had thrown it over the fence outside of school grounds into a grassy yard. I ran to the teacher and told them what happened. They told me I shouldn't have taken my ring off and it would be impossible to find and no one made an effort to find it or help me get it back. I told them about the boy who threw it over the fence. My tears and pleading were ignored and soon we were sitting in class and all I could think about was the loss of my beautiful ring. My recollection doesn't remember, but I'm sure I tried looking for my little ring and didn't find it. Sometimes I think maybe one of the other little girls wanted it and they lied about the boy throwing it. My little precious treasure was lost forever never to be worn by my little hand again.
Another precious treasure that I had was a similar bible illustrated above. My Rainbow Blue Bible had a zipper that closed tight around its edges. I used to love looking at the cover and imagining being one of the children who was next to Jesus. As you can see, inside are beautiful illustrations to go along with some of the scripture. I remember writing my name in it and putting notes I had received from Sabbath School into it. Well one day, my cousin was visiting and my Mom was sharing about Jesus to her. My Mom showed her a bible and then asked her if she had one. Which she did not, so my dear wonderful mother told her she could have mine. I asked her why she was giving her my Bible and she said because you never read it anymore and it is just collecting dust. I loved that Bible, but I learned not to argue with my mother when she took on her holier than thou attitude. Years later my cousin said if it meant that much to me, she would give it back. I declined as by then I was much older. However, I never got over my Mom giving that precious treasure of mine away. That little Bible is the one that I first read it from page one through the last book of Revelation. As I was talking about writing my blog today, my companion told me to look for a copy of it online and order it. So I found a similar one, but it doesn't have a zipper to zip up, however it is exactly the same cover with illustrations as the one I had, but again without the zipper on the outside to close it. I can't wait to get it so I can see it again.
My family had a beautiful cookie jar from the Los Angeles Ceramic Shop. On the outside of the cookie jar were colorful varieties of different cookies. On the lid was a walnut that served as the handle to lift off the top. My Dad used to buy us the worst and cheapest cookies he could find. They were those wannabe Oreos in chocolate and vanilla that had hardly any taste to them and vanilla wafers. I remember I would go pull out a cookie and it would be one of his boring varieties and then I would close the lid to the cookie jar and turn it around and would pick out a cookie to look at to imagine I was eating it. I don't remember what happened to that cookie jar, but many years later I searched the world over for one. When I looked on line, the asking price for this now vintage cookie jar was being sold at a ridiculous price that I couldn't see myself spending on a cookie jar. Then one day my family went on vacation to my ex-husband's home town. We went on a walk downtown and they had a thrift shop. We walked inside and there on the shelf, of all places in the State of Montana, was the same exact cookie jar. Inscribed on the bottom was the Los Angeles Ceramic Shop logo and name. The cookie jar was sold to me for $65 and I still have it in my hutch to this day. Following is a picture of it:
I have a grey little ceramic teapot (probably dates back to the 50's) that my Mom had for years when I was a child. One day she asked me if I wanted it and of course, I still have it to this day. I moved so many times since I first received it. Always in my moves, it is wrapped up very securely and travels either on my lap or in the backseat with all my other tangible precious treasures that I didn't want broken.
I have an old school desk -- the kind made of old oak wood with a half table on it connected to a wooden chair. My Mom acquired it from my cousin's mom (her sister) many years ago. Since I worked for a school district, my Mom asked me if I wanted it for my office as a decoration. I still have it to this day in the corner of my living room. I love it. I think of all the children, particularly my little cousins and older cousins who probably sat in it before my Mom received it. It has not been refurbished or repainted. It's perfect in its original old worn out condition.
It is written in the Bible that we should not live in the past. I'm sure when reference is made to these verses it probably has to do with drudging up the bad memories and sins you have left behind or a different period in your life that is truly over, because we have been reborn and living a different path from the past. However, I love preserving some of the stuff from my childhood that brought me some joy. I recently became nostalgic and purchased an original Dick and Jane Book I learned to read from in elementary school and a couple music books we used in school. I also found all the music piano books that my piano teacher Mrs. Kelly used to use to teach me how to play.
I've accumulated many gifts and trinkets from my children -- things they have made with their little children hands. I have a hutch that is all full of memorable treasures from them as well as my friends I've met along my life path.
I remember I acquired a hundred year old piano from the school district I worked for when it was getting ready to be taken to the dump. The tuning of the piano had been maintained still and it was an old upright piano that sounded like a grand piano. There were a couple wonky keys I ended up repairing to my best abilities. I took the piano home. I looked inside the lid and it actually had a manufacturing date and the year it was made. It was made on my birthday 100 years before I acquired it. I ended up stripping off the several layers of paint that had been painted on it and got it down to its original wood. I also got a carved front part from another antique piano the district was dumping and used that in lieu of the one on the 100 year old piano I got. It turned out beautiful and I owned and played on it for years, up until the time I retired. We were moving out of state and we needed the room to pack our belongings so the piano didn't fit. My BFF ended up taking it and had it in her house for years. I think she may have given it away when her family moved out of state just a few years back. After that piano, I never had a real acoustic tuned piano again. I've had the digital pianos, but there is nothing like the real thing.
I'm sure if you think about it, you probably have stored or kept some of your sentimental treasures as well. I recently wrote about my Donny Osmond and Osmond Brothers albums I still have, my childhood rock collection, my miniature hippos and pianos collections, my shell collection. All the things that brought joy to me at one time or another.
I know when I leave this world, all my stuff and memories are left behind. My joy will be when I find out what amazing treasures I managed to store up for myself in heaven.
Isaiah 43:18-- "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."
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