This morning as I was putting away the blades that go with the electric knife, I remembered when I received it many years ago. It was Christmas, 1965, I was a young bride meeting my in-laws for the first time. They had not been able to make the trip from Kansas when I married their son in Washington state the previous Christmas. The knife was a gift from his oldest sister, Peggy and her husband Jerry. At the time I thought it was a ridiculous present. We were poor college students living on beans and not much else. What would I ever do with an electric knife?!
I have had that knife now for 43 years. It has been used to carve countless Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys. It has cut ham and corned beef and roast beef. It has been present at many happy family occasions. The youthful marriage ended, the mother and father-in-law have both passed on, and I haven't heard from Peggy and Jerry for many years. But the knife is still here with me, a reminder of good times and times long past.
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2 comments:
I think this is sweet. It's funny how some items just keep on going. My own electric knife bit the dust a while ago and I was sorry about that. There are a lot of memories tied up in normal items for daily living. It's why I try to be compassionate with my mother's reluctance to part with things. I read an article about older people who "processed their entire lives in a tea cup" and it made me think about the memories we attach to plain everyday stuff. On the other hand, we have to get rid of stuff too. Cori tells her girls that "if it's broken we throw it away" and I have heard little Callie, who is two, tell me that. They live by that at their house. I know there is a spot in the middle. Before Damon left, we took pictures of some of his mementos. He was able to save them in photo format. That works for some things, but you can't hold a photo. I actually scanned some favorite greeting cards into the computer. They are preserved to see, but I can no longer hold them. I guess there are trade-offs in everything.
I look forward to the day when I have fond memories of things that I have had in my marriage and through years of family time. Cute post.
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