When I was in my 20s my Mother gave me a light pink bowl she used for years. She passed it down to me when I had my own kitchen. I had the bowl in the refrigerator because there was a little bit of bread pudding left in it from the day before. I was being a bit lazy and did not put the leftovers in a Tupperware, you know how that goes. This morning I put the pink pyrex bowl on the stove to just warm a bit. I have never put it on the stove before. 20 years--never on the stove! I got distracted, and next thing I know I hear a loud noise. The bowl, with the little portion of bread pudding had exploded on my stove. Many pieces on the floor, stove, and countertop. I stand there and say that was my favorite bowl, and I started to cry.
This is a bowl for heaven's sakes! Why would I care that much?
I left the room for a minute, and thought about WHY this was my favorite. Memories started flooding my mind. My Mother is an amazing home maker. She always makes fresh things from her kitchen. She always takes time to bake pies, make homemade cinnamon rolls, spaghetti with yummy meatballs, cakes, and the list goes on. The kitchen is her corner stone, I would always sneak in to grab something delicious Mom had made.
When she gave me this bowl, she was probably just giving me an extra bowl she had, and knew it would help me in my kitchen. What she did not know was that it would serve as a memory for not only her kitchen, but mine as well.
Since living in Chicago, this bowl has lived with me in 6 different kitchens. This bowl was used when I was dating, got married, had one son, another son, and yet a third son. This bowl kept me company when I was going through divorce, living alone (without my kids some days because of joint custody) and moving into the beginning of my 40s. This retro pink bowl supported me making food for my new husband and bonus (step) sons. Foods they had never enjoyed before, and connecting us all together as one blended family.
The bowl stood for longevity, stability, childhood, adulthood, and memories of my Mom. Today it shattered. Yes, it is a thing, an object, an item, a pink bowl. It was MY pink bowl, and I am not the kind of person who holds onto things. I move things along quite easily actually, always de-cluttering. This was one of the things I did not want to let go of.
Letting go is a very hard thing to do, but it is inevitable. Letting go is constant.
From the moment we are born, we are letting to. The second we have children, we are letting go. The minute we move from yesterday to today, we are letting go.
Things break, accidents happen, and life takes a turn we are not expecting. As you can see in this picture, I will not be able to pick up the pieces of this bowl and put it back together. What I do have is what this bowl represents to me. Beautiful memories of my Mother and my life as it has unfolded.
Thank you Mama for sharing your pink retro bowl, I know neither of us had any idea of the meaning it would have.
As I Let Go, I believe I will use this bowl to make a mosaic, planter or something artistic. This way, I can remember the beauty that it held and will continue to hold in my life. Reinvention.
…what do you need to let go of?