M. What do you see when you look above? A letter? An initial? A monogram? I used to think of all three - until yesterday. I live in an area of rural FL where those that have pretty much live along side those that have less. Maybe we all do. Nevertheless, I have a relatively recent friend - Ill call Cherie. Cherie grew up in State homes - she never knew her real parents. She never knew a Christmas just for her - or ever had a Mom made birthday cake - so she tells me - and - I have no reason to not believe her. Cherie rents a ramshackle house in a nearby town with her common law (disabled) husband. She works at a local Dollar store and hopes to become manager - someday. Cherie struggles with her weight - shes a very large woman - but her heart and her smile are, no doubt, the largest parts of her body. I got to know Cherie through her job - when Id run into the store to buy dental floss or some other such necessity. She would always be there - ready to help and truly proud of her lower management position. She knows that promotion will be coming - particularly now that the company just built a brand new store - for her sake I REALLY hope it does. Shes a gabber - just like me - a friendship developed. Cherie knows that down here in FL Im mostly on my own - most of my friends and all of my family are up in MA. So, knowing yesterday was my birthday she asked me to go to dinner. I wanted to suggest good restaurants - up in The Villages - but I knew that theyd be too pricey for Cherie - so we opted for the Early Bird at the Golden Corral. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised at the food - Ive had worse in far swankier places. We went Dutch - at my request. After the buffet meal, Cherie insisted we go to the nearby Super Walmart - so we did! I needed some dog food and water filters so we briefly separated to shop. - We met at the front of the store- post purchases. As we walked out to the car, Cherie was really bubbling with joy - shes not one to easily keep a secret. Before we even pushed our cart to the car she thrust out her hand which held a grey plastic Walmart bag. Here she said with glee - this is your birthday present! I was really shocked and stammered . . .you really shouldnt have. I opened the bag and found a long gold tone chain with a very large gold tone letter M pendant. Fastened on the M were a tiny diamond dragonfly, a pearl center rose - and an enameled turquoise daisy. The $7.00 price tag was still attached. For someone who makes barely over minimum wage - this was an expensive purchase - and I KNEW it. So - this brings us back to the age-old question - at what price is love? Does a fancy home with a backyard fire pit and rooms full of antiques mean greater love and success? Does a Lexus or Range Rover present mean greater love or success? Does a heavy, solid gold M necklace mean greater love or success? OR - does a $7.00 gold tone necklace, in a grey plastic bag, mean immeasurable love and a success of friendship? Perhaps all do - but the one I will always remember - came from a grey plastic bag. M = means love.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 19:47:15 +0000
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