Oops, a Mistake

January 12, 2008--Saturday
Today we took down the Christmas tree and nativity sets. We left them up this long because their light warms the house in leafless January and the Christmas tree so alive and supple, I had not the heart to banish it. When, however, I went to replace the flower arrangement on top of the piano, I came to a realization. We had spent a day transferring boxes to our new attic in the garage, and there was the flower arrangement. We have always had two identical flower arrangements because they were originally created for the two girls’ bedrooms on the second floor at Plum Creek Lane. I assumed the flower arrangement in the garage was the extra—the second one—and though I had some hesitation throwing out a perfectly good flower arrangement, it is so large that there is no really good place to store it, so I took a deep breath, and trying to embrace my new attitude of being able to shed a few things, I cast it to the garbage.

It was not until I went to restore the flower setting to the piano that I began to remember that I had cast the second one into the garbage months ago in another bold effort to clear the garage. The one that I had recently thrown away—yes, you got it—was the first—the one that goes on the piano. It dawned on me only slowly what I’d done—coming to me memory by memory. I had taken the flowers out of the spare when I tossed it and added them to the first. Why hadn’t I remembered that in the garage when I so blissfully tossed away the centerpiece of our livingroom?
Scot was so sweet when I told him what I’d done. He said he far preferred the vase of yellow flowers I put there instead. And the next morning when I was replacing some things on the mantel and a beautiful plate from Greece which I have always loved when toppling to the floor, he gathered the pieces, said he thought he could glue it and told me he really loved projects. I live in heaven with this man.