A Jar of Fish....

Have you ever rediscovered something? Not a long lost something, but something that was in plain sight, every day, for a very long time?

There was a time in my life when I moved frequently. Yes, frequently. As in seven times in two years. I moved so often that I couldn't remember all the addresses that I had, if I wanted to. And I don't want to.

In some ways, I was moving away from something, or someone. In another way, I was trying to find a home. A safe place where I could be at peace. It was a long search, finally culminating in the last move, more than a dozen years ago. And now, I am home.

So this morning, for the second or third time in about a week, I noticed something in the bathroom: an apothecary jar full of fish. Little, formerly bright green, bath gel-containing fish. They've been with me for so long that they have lost their bright green and have settled into a very light yellow-green.

I remember where I bought them and I remember why. They were little, and cute, and would fit in a jar on the bathroom counter. And they made me smile. Since not much was making me smile those days, that was a big thing. To me, anyway.

I bought them at the import store. And I was waited on by my former daughter-in-law's friend, Kelly. As in Kelly green...... We had a lovely visit. She helped me pick out a gift for my DIL and then let me wander the store and dream. My wandering took me to the bath beads.....and my fish.

Somehow, in all the moving, the little jar of fish always made the cut. I cannot remember ever being tempted to get rid of them. So there they sit, on the bathroom counter, watching life go by. Mostly unnoticed, they huddle together in their jar and fade away....

But, not the memories...