How many coffee mugs do YOU have?  I must have 50+ and that’s after I gave some away because I didn’t have room for them all.  Are your favorite mugs in the front of your cabinet?  Do you even reach in the back for the ones stored there?  My husband has his favorites and we vie for ‘front and center’ shelf space. (marriage compromise even in the cabinets 🙂

Have you ever thought about why you favor one mug over another?  Or one cup over another? Did someone special give it to you – Husband, friend, child? Does it bring back a memory?  Do you ever take the time to think about that memory?  Typically I do not. 

Last night I made myself a cup of Bedtime Bliss tea.  Now, I don’t drink tea every night but when I do, this is totally my 1st pick before bed.  The taste is great and it relaxes me. I reached in the mug cabinet but did NOT take the ones in front.  I reached for a tea cup near the back.  And, as I sat there drinking that tea, I began to think of Sparkle. 

Sparkle and I met in college – almost 50 years now (I know, I know – I don’t look a day over 25!).  Sparkle’s ‘real’ name is Patti.  (I didn’t even know that for many many years).  Sparkle loves the beach – it is her happy place. She would visit the beach and stay with another of my college roommates, Marsha, and dream about ‘someday’……when she too would live at the beach. (I have to interject and tell you – Marsha was Marshmello in college – she is Mo now.  As for me,  I was affectionately known as ‘Crazy Jane’.  I don’t think much has changed for me.)

Well, her ‘someday’ is finally happening. She is moving from Virginia, where she has lived since we graduated from college – to the beach. The same beach where Marsha lives! She is leaving her family, friends and her best loves right now – her 3 grand daughters.  But the beach is calling and she must go!!

Now, this is major life changing stuff.  And starting over!  It has been alot of work.  Purging after living in the same condo for 20 years.  Figuring what she wants to put in storage and what she wants to give away.  Cleaning, packing and moving to a temporary residence until April 1st. Whew! Im tired just writing about it.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I was thinking about Sparkle last night because she is the one who gave me the tea cup.  It is my ‘go to’ cup for night time tea.  For some reason tho, last night, while drinking that tea, alot of memories were triggered.  Our past – where we were when we were 17, all the crazy things we did, where we are right now, where we are headed (besides the fact that every body part is headed south!), our friendship over the past 50ish years and what it has meant to me. And, how grateful I am that we met and have kept in touch.

I will be spending a week with Sparkle, Mo and 3 other girlfriends from college this summer.  They are all headed to my house to play.  We have gone from 5 of us to 6 – adding 1 extra college roommate this year (who we connected with on Facebook). It will be so fun catching up.

So, next time you grab a mug or a cup out of the cabinet, stop and think about where it came from.  Does it trigger great memories?  Did someone give it to you?  Have you hugged that person recently? Have you spoken to that someone recently?  If not, pick up the phone.  Give a hug. Rekindle that friendship and relationship.  You never know when it might be too late.

And, think of Sparkle enjoying her ‘someday’ at the beach.