Hidden Gifts

This past Saturday was expected to be a sad day.  You see, my two sisters and I were going to get together and divide up my Mom’s jewelry.  I had been holding it all at my house since our Mom went home to heaven back in June.  When I took out the boxes in the morning, I sighed a very heavy sigh and the tears began.  How were we ever going to be able to go through this?

We began to lay it all out, there was a lot – Mom loved her jewelry – but most of it was costume……and then the memories flowed.  ‘I remember her wearing this….she wore this Christmas pin each year…..I bought her this…..’ and on and on.  What didn’t flow, however, was sorrow.  Yes, there was a heaviness at times, but there was also joy, joy in the memories and joy in the solidarity.

The three of us are very different in some ways, and in other ways very much alike.  There have been times when our lives went in different directions, but living through the death of our parents, I think we have come to a new understanding of what is truly important.

Yes, I came home with some trinkets from Mom, but I also brought home with me a new sense of camaraderie.  A bond that only those who have suffered together can form.

Mom would be proud.  She always longed for her daughters to be close.

Some new jewelry……but what is most treasured are the hidden gifts from that day!