simple treasures....

do you own any treasures? I consider myself quite a lucky lady, because I do. now, when you think of treasure you might think of the monetary worth something brings in and while I do love my "fancy treasures" [wedding band, engagement ring, etc.] - to me I own a few "simple treasures" that are the most valuable things I own...

would I be devastated if I lost my rings? yes. can they be replaced. yes. even if I lose them, no one can ever take away the feelings that flowed through me when DJ asked me to marry him, or when he surprised me on the eve of our [second] wedding day with my beautiful engagement ring... those feelings are tied to my husband, to our love - not to the rings that I wear as an outward display of that.

the things that can't be replaced mean that much more to me -- one of the most valuable things I have to this day are little things that I've held on to over the years that money cannot replace - my senior year of high school yearbook [if anything only for what DJ wrote in it], pictures from my childhood and DJ's childhood, and probably my biggest "treasure" would be my box of pictures, cards, letters and emails from my dad. I go through them from time to time just to feel close to him and remind myself of his spirit and who he was - but I do have one thing that is a constant reminder.

on to one of my biggest "treasures" -- so I have this email printed out and hanging in my office that my dad wrote me 10 years ago [to the day actually]... I was a sophomore in college and I honestly don't know what it was in response to but I can tell you that the day I got it I printed it out and hung it on my wall right by my computer in my apartment in Northgate. It has since then moved with me to two different rooms in the UCF ZTA house, my office in Columbia College, my apartment at USC, two different offices in Wilmington, my home in Great Barrington and now back on my office wall in Atlanta. For ten years I hung that email up as a constant reminder to myself of the love that my parents felt for me. 

The email reads:

Subject: YOUR MOMMY AND DADDY ARE VERY PROUD OF YOU

Hi honey,

The subject says it all. We are very proud of your accomplishments.

Thanks for being you.

That is all.

Daddy

If you ever met my dad you know he's a man of very few words - but when he spoke, you listened. When he told you he loved you, you basked in it. When he told you he was proud of you, you felt like the most powerful person in the world. 

I hope that I can one day be the pillar of strength for my children that my father was for me - he wasn't perfect, but he was the best daddy I could have ever asked for. His birthday is coming up - he would have been 77 on Friday, crazy to think about that and the fact that it's been over five years since we lost him. Sometimes it really does feel like yesterday I was laughing on the phone with him and making him tell me that he loved me before he hung up. 

I guess the biggest thing I have to share in regards to this is tell the people you love that you love them, tell your kids [and significant others, family members, friends] that you're proud of them. This is the reason I love cards, letters and just taking the time to physically write to someone what they mean to you. It's so important to share these things with people and sometimes it means that much more when it's written down and you can physically hold on to and come back to... You never know when you could be giving someone a simple treasure that they will hold on to and love for the rest of their days.

Do you have any treasures of your own?

What are they?