How many times have I held on to the railing of my basement stairs traversing the thirteen steps to reach the landing, safely. The problem with the notion of doing a task as safely as possible is you forget. That one time you are in a hurry and do not grab the handrail that is usually on all stairs that of course lead you up and or down the steps.
That one time is when your body takes flight and in mere seconds you are either flying though the air to the eventual bottom of the floor or you bounce along like a toy you’ve thrown as a child down the stairs just to take glee in experiencing it bounce along appearing to not mind the task in the least. But, and yes with me there is always a but.
I’ve taken to bouncing down my basement stairs at least four times in the past 22 years and 6 times down the upper level stairs of my top floor. The sixth time bouncing on my south end wound up breaking my tail bone and if you have ever broken a tail bone you will know there is no cast for which to apply to this injury as with broken toes also.
You must grin and bear it for the length of time it takes for it to heal. So what does any of the last few paragraphs have to do with something that is lost you might be pondering by now. Or at least I hope you’ve read this far to this point. It’s been years since my last tumble down the stairs and I pray will not happen again.
You see when you age you tend to lose the ability to remember everything you use to remember when younger. Some might say they forget at any age and it’s nothing to do with aging. Let’s just say I use to multi-task so much easier years ago. I would store items in one certain place for years and then would come to the un-earthly conclusion that a another completely different place was better.
This is called storing into my Black Hole of a Memory. For the life of me I swear under my breath and sometimes calling out into the air, “Why oh Why did I think storing that item in a different place was a good plan?”
Christmas of 2018 I use to store my little 3 foot tree, adorned with the lovely ornaments gifted to me by my beautiful daughter over the many years of gift giving. They were themed ornaments which is why I bought the little tree in the first place. I had a 7 foot Christmas tree that I used for many years, but it became a tad harder each year lugging the many totes of ornaments and lights up the basement stairs and dragging the bag with the 7 ft. tree to the living room.
Not only the lugging of Christmas decorations that needed to be done, also the living room furniture needed moving every year so I would have room for the tree. This became just too much for me and the joy began to disappear from the upcoming holiday celebrations. So, I stored that 7 ft. tree on a huge shelf in the garage and allowed it to rest for a number of years, until my daughter who now was married and had her own decorating tasks to perform. Needless, to say upon her informing me she needed a Christmas tree for the holidays back in 2018 ~ Well you can guess by now that I gave it to her with Joy in my Heart, because I’d never again need to move the furniture around or lug all of those totes out of the basement.
So in 2018 just after New Year I stored away my little 3 ft. Christmas tree in my walk in closet inside of all things an empty Karaoke box from a gift I’d given my daughter when she was a teenager. She moved out with the machine leaving the box behind. Just my luck it was the right size for the tiny Christmas tree and this is where it was stored, happily I must say. As every year I would smile when grabbing the small box and knowing there would be no moving of heavy furniture around.
Well, during the year 2018 I was feeling fantastic and decided to clear out my walk in closet and donate clothing that I no longer wore, you know what I mean. All those party dresses and sparkling party shoes that were so tight on my ever growing feet, did you all know that as you age your nose, ears and feet grow bigger? Along with your thighs and tummy of course.
For the life of me and I can’t remember why I though the Karaoke box no longer was suitable to store my tiny tree. I’d find a better place and not store it in my bedroom closet any longer. December of 2018 came around and with glee I walked upstairs to retrieve the Karaoke box containing the tiny tree and as it turned out all I found were a few dust bunnies in its place. Hum…
Never in my wildest dreams did I ponder if the Black Hole of a Memory had anything to do with my simply misplaced tiny tree. I’d find it post-haste for sure. Well I searched room after room and no tree was to be found and neither was the Karaoke box. Now don’t be mistaken to imagine big rooms of my home, because they are quite small indeed. So, in time I was sure that I’d locate the tiny tree I told myself as I added more rum to my fruitcake I’d been tending to for months.
Did you know the secret to really delicious fruit cake? It’s all in the rum that is added in small amounts (a rum bottle cap full) once a week beginning in October leading up to Christmas. No driving allowed after eating my Christmas fruit cake that is for sure. It is so good that I had orders from my friends who lived in Mississippi, Louisiana, Los Angeles California and finally in Los Vegas as well. I’d ship them off just after Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. Oh those were fun times back when I lived in Florida over 3 decades ago.
But, I digress again as I often do these days when pondering over the many memories of ones lifetime. So long story not too short, the tree was not found until just 2 weeks before December 25th (2021) in my basement. You see I had a flood back in the summer of 2019 from a hose attached to my basement sump pump, which meant moving totes from one place to another for the men to work on the problem.
I’d in the past given my daughter many totes marked Christmas decorations for her new family and didn’t think twice about the newly found tote marked Xmas. Hum…A smart person would have looked inside long before now as I grew over the years more and more saddened about losing my small tree. But, my heart knew I didn’t throw out the tree to the garbage or donate it to good-will. So one day it would appear like a Christmas miracle I was certain.
The basement was wonderfully repaired that summer before our world changed due to the virus. I was thankful the pump broke that year before the outbreak because I would not have wanted anyone in the home at that time.
So the tote marked Xmas caught my eye the day I noticed my hot water tank in the basement beginning to leak on Dec 21st 2021. Yes I’d needed to have my hydro (electric company) replace it I hoped. I’ve rented the tank from them ever since I bought the home 22 years ago. It’s just easier to pay a monthly charge , instead of getting a plumber to buy me one and install it. This year might have been difficult with the lack of things available to purchase such as hot water tanks. I’d be in a pickle for sure. So I thanked my lucky stars for renting the hot water tank and with my heart pounding in my chest I called Hydro.
They said of course and would 9 in the morning on Dec. 22nd be alright for the install. Well I about cried with joy over this important appointment. Remember the tote that caught my eye? Well it was underneath four lightweight cardboard boxes, glaring at me or should I say snickering at me to take a peek inside and that is just what I did.
But, I must say this tote in question was out of sight and out of mind in the basement behind a curtain next to my washer and dryer I suppose since I cleared out my bedroom closet.
So I removed the cardboard boxes and looked inside. One of the biggest smiles came across my face and heart since before the virus hit us here in March of 2020. There was not only the fully decorated Christmas tree but the extension cord and the table top cover for under the tree, along with my Christmas Stocking my beloved grandmother crafted by hand upon the notice of my birth at Our Lady of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles California so many moons ago.
Little did she know at that time my father would run away with me to drop me off on my grandparents doorstep in a small retirement village in Carrabelle Florida.
He walked down the driveway to a waiting taxi cab never to be seen by me again until I asked my grandfather when I was 11 to meet my father, and later at 14 to meet my mother. I digressed again. But, in telling a Christmas themed story it’s at times nice to get to know a little about the storyteller.
I learned at a young age not to look too hard for what is lost as it will find you when it is meant to or not. We never know what the future holds we must just be thankful and live it. Along with pondering about such things. Happiness is what you make of it. My grandparents were my angels and provided me with the love I needed and always respected my wishes. I met both of my parents and found out that my life was suppose to traverse in this manner for me to become the woman that I am.
So just when you think something is lost to you forever , let me tell you to just stop looking and wait for its arrival.
bluebird4udaily 