I was given the most wonderful and heartwarming gift last night! I’m going to blog about it in a few days, after I’ve given all the feelings a chance to bubble up to the surface.
In the meantime, I’ll tell you about something else that happened yesterday.
The Billy Bookcases
But me? I lifted my eyes from the computer screen, briefly watched the chaos descending upon the room, and then went back to my Farkle game because there was nothing I could do to stop the bookcase from collapsing, and besides, the Farkle game was timed.
The Chandler Swain Crow/Cat Teapot
But it could have been so much worse. The lid can be glued, and the teapot itself escaped unscathed. The glass table top didn’t break, nor did the glass in most of the picture frames, nor did the fragile dolls on the shelf below. So, all in all, things turned out much better than they could have.
It reminded me of something that happened when my son was about three years old. He and his cousin, Lindsay, who was two, were playing in his room. Suddenly we heard a huge bang and the children started crying. Deb and I raced into the bedroom to find the dresser overturned. Lindsay had tried to climb it.
On top of the dresser had been a little wooden shelving unit where James kept his fragile treasures. Most of them were now broken. He was sobbing as he surveyed the damage. But suddenly he spotted something that wasn’t broken: it was a hollowed-out egg that had been hand-painted with a bunny scene and given to him by someone at Irene’s Pub.
“At least my egg didn’t break!” he cried with relief as he rushed across the room and picked it up from the floor. But in the intensity of the moment, he squeezed too hard and the egg broke in his hand.
He’d found the one thing that had been spared devastation, and then he’d inadvertently destroyed it himself with the sheer intensity of his love for it.
I felt so sad for him, but I loved that he was the kind of person who would do that.
I gasped when I saw the picture of the teapot! Oh, no!
And such a sad story about your son…
And I know what the gift was… 8)
I wanted to hug the very grown-up James when I read the story of the egg.
Oh no! I’m so sorry about the teapot, et al!
That’s such a sad little story about the egg! What on earth could that gift be? *shifty eyes*
It is interesting that it was a Billy bookcase from Ikea that collapsed. There was an excellent interview on CBC August 3 with Ellen Ruppel Shell, the author of Cheap: The High Cost of Discount Culture. Ikea items are designed to be built for a certain cost. Some items have been in the catalogue for years, and we all know that costs have risen over time (also it takes time to move from the design stage to the store floor). The results are decreasing quality, as the cost may not go up, and environmental as well, for example the wood in their products often comes from China and the company does nothing to ensure that it is not harvested from “protected” forests. After all Ikea directors can’t be expected to control such things. The observation was made that purchasers of Ikea products have not demanded better quality; but rather have changed their way of using the products. The bookcases were used as an example: we put heavy books only at the sides of the shelves, because if they are in the centre they will bend the shelves to the point of the collapse you experienced. Crazy, isn’t it – we recognize the lack of quality but are so in love with the image of Ikea that we continue to shop there. It is now a Dutch company, by the way – tax reasons of course. We love to hate WalMart; but apparently Ikea is just as “bad”. The book sounds very interesting!
At least the teapot lid is easily mended!
I bet the artist who created your teapot would make you a new lid for it.
Sweet story about James. So touching that in all the destruction he saw something unscathed (if only for a moment)
Lovely story about James. and I think I know what the gift is too 😉
Just a little note to let you know that I’ve been really enjoying your blog (a happy discovery courtesy of BOLO). This story with your son was so touching and the teapot so pretty that it feels like both a happy and sad tale. Thanks for sharing! Julie