Something very significant happened to me last weekend - the beginning of a slicing away of my life and possessions. Something so simple, the gift of three marbles to a grandson (one of nine grandchildren) - he reached double figures and not thinking of gifts, swam 5K (three-plus miles) for a Cancer Relief charity.
He showed me a pottery dish he had made at school to hold his marble collection, and I recalled how many times he had lovingly fingered much of the ephemera in our old house that I have collected over the years. Three marbles? Shot-silk miniature glass globes that sat on the cluttered kitchen dresser. I cannot even recall where or why I bought them. I loved them, but it's time to start letting go. Time to stop hoarding.
I wrapped them individually in tissue paper, and put them in a little bag. But my simple gift was as nothing compared to that made for him by his grandfather. Raymond has made (and I do not have a photo) the most exquisite seven-drawer miniature marquetry cabinet to hold D's swimming medals. That was a true gift of love for a little boy, hours in the making; my marbles pale into insignificance.
