Cassy's Corner- What is precious to you?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what tops the list of what’s important to me. Do you ever have those moments of just taking stock? Of course, without needing an explanation, the head of the list is my family. I have two great fantastic unbelievable kids, a husband I’d not trade in for the world, parents who could not be more “there” for me than anyone, friends who have would give the shirt off their backs for me (another story another time). Pretty good stuff. But, there is more.

What are the things that become “the somehow important” components of your day? Even the seemingly silly things? When one of my daughters was young, well, not so young now, a rabbit I made for her out of fuzzy fabric was her best friend. That poor thing has stuffing coming out through the thin material and I worry when it can no longer hold on- I hope my daughter won’t also suffer at a level I could not repair.

I have some things that are extremely important to me. I was in Italy over Christmas sitting in a tiny restaurant with my family and realized that I could twirl the diamond in my ring. I panicked. You’re not supposed to make the stone move. I took the ring off and put it in a tic-tac box I had in my purse, telling everyone at the table that when I couldn’t remember where I put it—that’s where it was. I would have been heart-broken if I couldn’t locate it or if the stone had fallen out. Why? It’s only an object. But my husband surprised me with it the Christmas of our 10^th year of marriage. We could never afford anything like that before. Emotion. Commitment.

Family and certain possessions, that makes sense for those to be precious. I confess, though, there are many little things that I actually hold dear that make no sense at all. I hate to use the word “covet,” but it’s pretty darn close.

At the risk of sounding like a stanza from The Sound of Music, I give you a bit of my list. Please add yours along the way.

-Sharpened Number 2 pencils. Really sharp and long enough they aren’t stubby. Plus the erasers have to be good, not the hard, dried up, smudge the paper ones.

-White lined paper. Not a yellow pad, but white. Also it needs to be regular-sized. No legal size allowed.

-Uniball fine tipped pens. I’ll take them in black, blue and red.

-The candle holder my daughter gave me five years ago. The wax goes in the top and the tea light is underneath. It’s burning right now as I write this.

-My phone. Oh, God. What would I do without that?

-Cambell’s Soup- Tomato Bisque made with milk NOT water. I can rarely find it. If you have a source, let me know.

-Tulips in winter sitting in a round vase on my table.

-My two Golden Retrievers who never seem to stop loving me (what is better than that?- Well, don’t answer).

- A fire in one of my fire places. I love going room to room and having the warmth.

-A glass of red wine and talking with my husband after his many days of travel. Catch up time.

-Drive by phone calls. That’s what I label my daughters’ calls. “Hi, Mom, can’t talk. Just listen. I wanted to tell you……Okay, gotta go. Love you.” Click.

-And, very importantly, my time with ME. I write. I talk to myself. I work out the next plot. I fuss about why my leading lady is about to be too stupid to live. The noise in my head is at times resounding. No wonder people have been accused of hearing voices. I turn a corner in my house and bump into my characters, and the dogs.

The list is longer, but I stop here. Yours?