Mardi Gra Beads

Do you have any memories that just stick with you?  Good memories that you will never forget.  Today I am wearing one of my memories.  When my son was little, barely crawling we were visiting one of my best girlfriends in Connecticut.  She is a Cajun living up north and in her house was this box she pulled out.  This box was full of colorful beads.  My son just sat down, which when you are less than one and are finally moving, is rare  As the box opened, it was like Christmas morning full of wonder and joy. He started pulling out silver and gold, purple and blue, red and pink.  He put them around his neck.  He brought them to my friend and I.  He buried himself in the beads and laughed.  O how he laughed.  His joy was contagious, we couldn’t help but smile and laugh with him.  He even tried to get the little schnauzer into the joy of beads.  I remember the knots.   I spent so much time untangling beads.  There would be this big clump of knots and the color my son had to have was in the knot.  So I would weave them in and out of each other and just when I would have them untangle, my son would bring me a fresh pile, to untangle some more.  As we left that day my friend told him about Mardi Gra and gave him a pile of beads to take home.   

Those beads were this amazing abundance and never ending source of joy.   So waking up today I had to pull out my pile of beads.  Now that my son is seventeen, they are my beads and my memories.  I wrapped myself in purple, green, and gold and remembered the joy those beads brought us for years.  Those beads help my son learn to be gentle for the tears flew when a chain broke and couldn’t go around your neck.  He learned how fragile the world can seem.  I learned from those beads that even the worst knots you run into with patience and gentleness can be unraveled.  Those beads remind me to reach out to old friends and enjoy some laughter.  They remind me to embrace life and celebrate the simple things like a box of beads and a child’s laughter.  They remind me of how fragile life can be and how moments and years can fly by in the blink of an eye.   I hope you stop take time to enjoy the beads of your life today.