Almost ten years ago I met a nice guy and his family when I briefly worked at a family foundation in Newport Beach. In the time that’s gone by @Steve_young moved his family up to Washington state. By his posts you can see that he now lives far from the high end real estate of Southern California and is enjoying a new life and new home in a more woodsy locale. Recently, while cleaning up a tumbledown structure on his property, he and wife Kristie came upon what looks to be a completely intact “Currier and Ives” cup—a fragment of a life once lived in this beautiful Northwestern part of the country.
“That’s Grandma Cary’s pattern!” I was quick to add to reply. It struck a chord!
The Royal China company produced a set of dinnerware that was pure Americana, featuring the artwork of the famous printmakers Currier and Ives. These were available for purchase at grocery stores in the 1930’s and 40’s. That’s when my grandma purchased her set one piece at a time. Much like our own life story, being written, or shall I say, assembled, piece by piece over time. The literal stuff of life that we gather day by day, year by year. Some pieces remain unused in a china cabinet gathering dust. Some are frequently used—even daily and not just trotted out when company comes a-callin’. Some pieces of our life story survive but with chips and cracks and other signs of wear. Some may be smashed beyond repair and recognition.
Whether a fragment from our life story is salvaged from a dilapidated structure or preserved and passed down with intention, our existence can have lasting meaning. Bits of it, good or not so good, will move ahead of where we live today and will be woven in to a future story that family or new land owners will discover. How we choose to tell our story will carry forward.
Is this my long-winded way of saying “choose well, don’t screw up and do good in this life?
Well, I believe it is.
The Daily Cuppa Jo 