佚名onymous

Mybrother-in-lawoenedthebottomdrawerofmysistersbureau1andliftedoutatissue-wraedackage。

"This，

"hesaid，

"isnotasli。Thisislingerie。

"Hediscardedthetissueandhandedmethesli。Itwasexquisite；silk，handmadeandtrimmedwithacobweboflace。Thericetagwithanastronomicalfigureonitwasstillattached。

"JanboughtthisthefirsttimewewenttoNewYork，atleast8or9yearsago。Sheneverworeit。Shewassavingitforasecialoccasion。Well，Iguessthisistheoccasion。

"Hetooktheslifrommeandutitonthebedwiththeotherclothesweweretakingtothemortician。Hishandslingeredonthesoftmaterialforamoment，thenheslammedthedrawershutandturnedtome。

"Donteversaveanythingforasecialoccasion。Everydayyourealiveisasecialoccasion。

"

IrememberedthosewordsthroughthefuneralandthedaysthatfollowedwhenIheledhimandmynieceattendtoallthesadchoresthatfollowanunexecteddeath。IthoughtaboutthemonthelanereturningtoCaliforniafromtheMidwesterntownwheremysistersfamilylives。Ithoughtaboutallthethingsthatshehadntseenorheardordone。Ithoughtaboutthethingsthatshehaddonewithoutrealizingthattheyweresecial。

Imstillthinkingabouthiswords，andtheyvechangedmylife。Imreadingmoreanddustingless。Imsittingonthedeckandadmiringtheviewwithoutfussing2abouttheweedsinthegarden。Imsendingmoretimewithmyfamilyandfriendsandlesstimeincommitteemeetings。Wheneverossible，lifeshouldbeaatternofexeriencetosavor，notendure。Imtryingtorecognizethesemomentsnowandcherishthem。

Imnot

"saving

"anything；weuseourgoodchinaandcrystalforeverysecialevent—suchaslosingaound，gettingthesinkunstoed，thefirstcamellia3blossom。IwearmygoodblazertothemarketifIfeellikeit。MytheoryisifIlookroserous，Icanshellout$28。49foronesmallbagofgrocerieswithoutwincing。Imnotsavingmygooderfumeforsecialarties；clerksinhardwarestoresandtellersinbankshavenosesthatfunctionaswellasmyarty-going；friends。

"Someday

"and