BLACKBIRD, BLACKBIRD, WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Raise your glass! What do you see in this picture? Four darling girls raising their glasses of milk to a Christmas with Gigi. I see so many things in this picture. I see my parent’s dining room set. It’s at least 40 years old and has been repainted. It’s funny how much of a connection I feel with them with this dining room set. A lot of love and laughter around that table! I see a handmade table runner, one of my favorite gifts ever, given to me from a colleague/friend made just for me by her mother. I see a Snowman cookie jar, a great find from a thrift store from my BFF, a master in thrifting. I see a cookie plate for Santa that was given to us as one of our 12 days of Christmas gifts during a tough year after Randy’s treatment. I never knew who that Secret Santa was although I have some guesses. Maybe I’ll never know, but I’ll never forget how much those 12 days of gifts lifted my spirits. I see a plant given to me by my neighbors at Thanksgiving, I’m trying hard to keep it alive. I see a set of new Christmas cups given to me from a new friend of a couple of years in St George; we are both widows and pickleball players, only she has far surpassed me with her skills but hasn’t left me behind in our friendship. I think of that song “make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other is gold.” That’s what I see; gifts given from old friends and from new friends. They are all gold to me. Cherish your friends, old and new. Raise your glass!