Bottled Moments

I spent the afternoon with Mom and Dad yesterday. Or should I say I spent the afternoon with Mom. It was a typical visit, just like all the others. Dad stayed outside in the hot, humid heat and Mom and I stayed inside in the air-conditioned house.

My mom has a large china cabinet in her dining room. Most people would have china in theirs, but not Mom. Her china cabinet is crammed with a vast collection of assorted pieces of glassware, some of them very old and some not. There are saucers and plates, goblets, various little glass dishes, dessert cups, pitchers, vases of varying shapes and sizes, among all the other items filling the spaces on the shelves.

As many times as I’ve seen the china cabinet I always go back to it, picking up the various pieces and looking at them with Mom. I only wish she knew the history behind the older pieces. Some of those dishes have been with her for so many years that all hope of figuring out where they came from is gone. Other than a couple of dishes from Granny Essie, the rest remain a mystery to her and to me. I couldn’t help but think yesterday that if only those dishes could talk, I’m sure they would have some interesting stories to tell.

After the china cabinet we usually navigate to the photo albums. Today we followed the same ritual. Both of us grabbed one and sat in the recliners pouring over the pictures. I love to hear Mom reminisce about the people who were once such a big part of her life and those who still are. So much of her life and mine are contained within the pages of those albums.

When putting away the photo albums, Mom asked me if I wanted a whiskey bottle! OK, there are two facts I can swear by when it comes to my mother. One, she never throws stuff away. If someone gives her something she can’t use, she’ll keep it until she can find someone who can. And two, my mom as well as my dad are anti-alcohol and alcohol is forbidden in their house. That being said, I was more than surprised by her question.

Before I could give her an answer, she walked over to a hutch in the corner and picked up a whiskey bottle hidden among the other stuff on top. I watched in curiosity as she turned it over, found a “key” and wound it up. The “whiskey bottle” turned out to be a music box that plays the tune “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow.” Another one of those items that someone was getting rid of it and Mom gave it a home until she can find someone who wants it. This particular “find” of hers might just be there a long time waiting for a new home. Looking at it, I got the crazy idea that one day I’m going to see some lucky person on the “Antiques Road Show” finding out it’s worth a fortune. Maybe I should rethink her offer?

As I started to leave, I noticed a giant “hopper” (as Cade calls them) munching away on one of Dad’s plants. Before I knew what was happening, Mom reached for the hopper and tried to catch it with her fingers! She missed, tried again and grabbed the hopper, threw it on the ground and stomped it. That poor hopper didn’t stand a chance! All I could think of is that I NEVER would have wanted to, much less made an attempt, to catch a hopper with my fingers.

The hopper incident brought back memories of a delightful morning spent with Mom and Cade about six years ago. We took Cade to the little springs behind her house to catch tadpoles. I tried over and over and could not catch the first tadpole. Yet every time Mom scooped the net into the water, she caught several. I remember sitting there soaking up every moment, trying to hold on to every detail in my mind so I could keep that morning forever in my memory. As I watched the two of them, I thought how wonderful life would be if we could simply bottle our favorite moments and relive them over.

When I went to tell Dad goodbye, he was sitting on the porch watching some wild turkeys walking around the pond. I usually have to hunt him down when I leave and it was nice to see him soaking up the view from the porch. I’m sure if the grass had needed to be mowed, he would have been on the mower, or if there was weeding to be done, he would have been in the flower gardens.

I have to say that yesterday turned out to be a perfect afternoon for all three of us as we took some time to relax and enjoy life. Moments like these I'd sure like to bottle!