Do you have good silver you keep for those special get togethers?
I know I have a very nice set of stainless steel flatware that I keep for those special times when I might have a guest I want to somehow impress or possibly flatter, I suppose.
Actually, I received the flatware as a gift from my company for my 30th year of service.
I was thinking to myself the other day that there is something not quite right about 'saving' things for that special time. After all, my beautiful utensils in their very attractive walnut case spend pretty well 99% of their time parked up on a shelf collecting dust. Considering I spent 30 years of my life earning those special knives and forks, it seems to make sense that I should be using them myself on a regular basis. Why should I not enjoy something fine all the time?
Come to think of it. What about that special bottle of wine. Or those brand new towels and that expensive set of sheets that have never seen a bedroom?
What about that very expensive diamond ring and stunning watch that I save for that special night out or to impress the women on my next Caribbean cruise?
Oh yes. I have a beautiful couch that I never lay on because I want to keep it looking like new. I'm not sure why. It just seems like the thing to do.
A friend of mine told me once that during her childhood, the home she grew up in had a beautiful room with a big stone fireplace, big comfortable chairs, expensive rugs and an amazing dining room table and chairs. Yet all through her childhood the room was strictly off limits except for maybe Christmas and Easter day.
I often think about what she said.
Life is so fragile. We have no way of knowing what will happen from day to day or even hour to hour.
What on earth are we saving things for? Why don't we enjoy the finer things that we have while we are in the position to do so? What would have been so wrong with my friends family having regular evenings together in that "special" room? Then it would indeed have been special.
Come to think of it, I plan to start using my 'special' utenstils all the time. I'm going to use those brand new towels. Not only that, I'm going to open that bottle of Crown Royal in the cupboard that's been on hold for that 'important' guest. Hell, if I happen to be expecting a guest that special, I'll just buy another bottle. And I'll even wash the towels.
I'm sure that if any guest of mine is that special, they won't care if the silver has been used before or if I drank out of that fancy wine glass just last week. I don't expect they will check to see if the price tag is still on the towels. Hopefully they will have come to see me and not all the new, fancy things I can overwhelm them with.
Right now I'm going to lay down and read a good book.
And I'm laying down on that very expensive, comfortable couch. Just like I should have done a long time ago.
