There's a whole lot of shimmering going on

Fifteen minutes!  I still had a few minutes, before getting serious about leaving for my exercise class. That was just enough time to pull out a box of fabric, which I needed later to finish a project, when a stack of boxes tumbled down out of the closet. Fortunately for me, I moved out of the way before they landed in force at my feet. The contents of several boxes lay scattered over the floor, daring me to try to fit everything back inside again.  

This mess would have to wait! I started to close the door, when I was distracted by a silver serving plate. It had scooted out of its silver cloth bag and lay upside down on the carpet.  A wedding gift, it was now tarnished and discolored, but splotched with areas of luster, revealing its potential.  I couldn’t leave it like that, so I decided to venture into the unknown, our garage, and found a small, opened can of silver cream and a piece of polishing flannel.  As I rubbed and polished over the surface, a rich patina appeared. It had aged beautifully; its value increasing through the years.

Time was running out; I had to leave for class. So I placed my new treasure in a cardboard box and left it in the garage. As I started the ignition in the car, I began thinking of ways to display my serving dish. A Valentine centerpiece or a serving plate to display decorative cookies or brownies would work. (The closet mess didn’t even enter my mind.)

I arrived at the class in time at Port Naz and quickly found my place, with a few minutes to spare. I looked over the group of Healthy Heart participants, most retired like myself, some younger and others older, and noticed an array of silver heads, in various stages of color and intensity. Like my silver serving plate, the overhead lights revealed a luster and sparkle as we waited to begin. The patina was in their life journeys and the knowledge and wisdom that come with aging. The sting of loss, joy of rebirth and new life, happiness and disappointment, betrayal, kindness, heartache and springtime love, beginnings and endings of friendships and careers, surrender and hope for family and friends, and voices of praise and prayer have formed and defined those silver hairs of wisdom. So much strength and resilience.

“Take a deep breath,” the leader started, “one, two, three, four.” There was a whole lot of shimmering and shining going on as the silver heads began moving and shaking in rhythm to his counting. “You’re looking good today,” he laughed. “Yes, sir, you’re looking good.”

Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? — Job 12:12

Don’t forget to put aside canned and other nonperishable foods for the hungry in our community. Here are just a few organizations that could use your help: Family Crisis Center, Helping Hands, El Granito Foundation, and St Anne’s Food Bank, etc.


 Anne Marie Bezayiff can be reached by e-mail at ambolor@ocsnet.net