The Gift of Time

My sister had another "Favorite Things" party last week.  Don't you wish you were there?!!!  It was so fun.  She kicked off the whole thing by saying, "If you were planning on this being a night where you are in a hurry to be done, you came to the wrong party!"  Three and a half hours later, we had eaten our way through fabulous favorite foods, chatted with our favorite friends, and shared five of our favorite items in a gift swap.

Seriously, the food was amazing.  I think I added a couple dozen recipes to my own list of favorites.  But what I really long for is to just be invited to dinner at each person's home when they make their dish again!  Every bite was tasty and my only regret was that I couldn't eat more.  Thanks LaDawn, for that pecan pie - I love it when the pecans are kind of crushed because I think it adds so much to the flavor.  That is exactly how you made yours.  I could have stolen that whole second pie and not felt badly about it at all!The gift swap was a treasure.  As each person explained why they chose their gift, there was lots of laughter (these gals are funny!) and our fair share of tears shed from touching stories being told.  We each put our name into the bucket five times - then we drew out five names.  Those were the five people that you got to give your gift to.  Yes, it took a long time to get through each person.  But it was worth every minute to share that evening together.  And I loved getting to know some of the important people in my sister's life that I haven't met before.  They became my favorite people simply by being important to her.

I wanted to share a part of a gift that I received from our friend Cendra.  She gave us an hourglass with the following note tied to it:

TIME

Watching sand fall from the top of the hourglass to the bottom has always fascinated me.  As the hourglass is first turned so that the sand begins to fall to the bottom, it is hardly even visible.  There is no sand in the bottom of the glass and for a few seconds it seems as if nothing is happening.  Then a few grains of sand begin to form a layer in the bottom of the glass.  It is still hard to see the grains of sand as they pass from one section to another but soon a small pile of sand appears, creating a layer which covers the bottom of the hourglass.  Depending on the size of the hourglass, the whole process may take a few minutes or even several hours.  Watching the complete process is fulfilling and satisfying.  When the top chamber is almost empty and the last grains of sand fall to the bottom chamber, it seems as if a silence has fallen also.

Memories have entered my life much like the sand falling in an hourglass.  At first I had no memories.  Slowly they began to enter my life and form a thin layer.  As the years passed, I could begin to feel memories forming a pile - representing family, friends, experiences, senses, learning.  Soon the piles of memories blend to form a very thick layer of life experience and feelings.  At times, I think the memories blend for a reason.  Some of the memories enrich new experiences and even cause older memories to become richer.

Our hourglass is limitless.  The life we live passes much like the grains of sand.  Even when we aren't watching, the hourglass is still working.  It is silent.  At times we look back and sense the rich layer of memories that has formed over time.  What an amazing process.  I am fascinated.

I am grateful for the time I have spent with you.  I hope that there are many more layers of memories that we will accumulate and share together.

Love, Cendra

Time is a lovely gift to give in general but the idea of its relationship to memories spoke to me.  Knowing that many of you love to document life like I do, I thought that it would touch you as well.  Moments layering one on top of another to create the whole experience called life.  The visual representation of an hourglass will stay with me.  Grain by grain, time passes and we gather memories that shape who we are and what is most important to us.  Each moment, each grain of sand, plays a role in forming what we become.I will never look at an hourglass the same again.  Thank you, Cendra.  And thanks to my sister for throwing another Favorite Things party.  I loved every bite, every word, every minute.

Want more info about throwing a Favorite Things party?  Click here to jump to my previous post that gives all the details.