The temperature has dropped, cooling the sun into a soft glow.
Light moves through the window and settles into my living room, resting upon my yellow couch and blue velvet ottoman.
Even with the room needing tidying up, the light offers grace and beauty to keepsakes and comforts.
I pause in the light.
Tears form as I smile at what I see and what I understand.
I realize that I will outlive my ability to speak to the meaning of the things I am now looking at.
The guitar I purchased in college on a whim.
The small stained-glass lamp my mom gifted me as a wedding present.
The perfume bottle my husband delicately painted… now empty, but still blooming.
Rocks my children picked, like flowers, when they were actually children.
My great-grandmother’s pillbox hats.
The hand-painted sunflower coaster my brother made.
My first (and last) attempt at making a mini clay sculpture… a woman figurine.
The Bible that I had recovered because it was falling apart, knowing full well it kept me together most days.
And the list goes on.
Time can feel short as well as long, depending on the age and stage. I know one day, hands that are not mine will be tasked with sorting through my closet, books, and art after I’m gone.
Please take what resonates with you as your own, donate the rest, and discard that which holds no use or value for others.
Give freely to others and double it with a blessing. I do not have much in monetary wealth; most of what I find of value is tendered in the heart and sealed by joy.
I ask that you linger softly on the echoes, as some memories are woven with threads so deep that time cannot unravel them.
There are moments and things I cherish because they were old when I acquired them, and I am but a gentle layer honored to be woven into its story.
Know that if I kept something, there was a reason, but do not let my reason, whether known or unknown, be enough to let it settle upon a shelf to be forgotten. Let it go.
If anything, keep my love with you, for that is eternal.
This column was initially published by CherryRoad Media. For more inspirational articles, follow ©Tiffany Kaye Chartier.
