Have you ever put on a coat or a jacket that you haven’t worn in quite awhile and discovered forgotten treasures in the pockets? Money maybe, a receipt from the dry cleaners, a candy from that restaurant you went to on your birthday.
The contents forgotten in a pocket often bring back sharp
memories of how they got there. Take for example the items in my coat
pocket. A favorite hair clip that I had decided
was gone forever. Did I remember that I had put it in my pocket back then? No.
But today when I found it I remember clear as day that I wore it to the opera.
Lucia di Lammermoor to be exact.
A lip balm. I’m always losing lip balms. And eventually, as
is the case with today’s discovery . . . I find them again.
But the most poignant treasure was a little slip of paper
with a name, a location time, and a number. “So-and-so – Starbuck’s – 5:30 – 555-555-1234”.
Written hastily in red and torn off a notepad.
And for a moment a hundred memories came rushing back. And it made me
smile a little to myself. The journey I
have taken since that little piece of paper. The lessons I had to learn, what
the heartache needed to teach me; the stronger person I am today. Ah, if only I had known then what I know now.
I put the note back in the pocket. I may need to remind
myself again one day.