Scintilla13 Day 15

tyunglebower ♦ March 27, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

Tell the story of how you got the thing you are going to keep forever. Include an image in your post, if you can.

This mug has never held a beverage.

I was in college when I got it. I had been sick, quite sick for several days. Sick to the point of asking people to check on me periodically.

Few people did. I’m sad to report that often in college when I needed people the most, even many of my friends were elsewhere. I still struggle with forgiving certain people.

But not the one who gave me this mug.

She did in fact come to check on me at one point. I was still in bad shape, and she asked me if I needed anything from anywhere, as she was headed to the grocery store. I thanked her, but told her I was pretty stocked in medicines and such. She left, and I took my 100+ degree temperature back to bed.

I’m pretty sure I didn’t move from the spot for a few hours. Not until another knock at my door stirred me from my quasi-stupor. It was the same friend again. In both of her arms she carried a small office sized waste basket which was filled to overflowing with cough drops, sleep aids, a bottle or two of water, even some cup of noodles.

And, the mug you see in that picture above.

I protested. Mildly, as I had no energy. But she deftly averted my protests and placed the whole package on my dresser, told me to feel better, and left.

Over the next few days I did use several of the items in the care package. I didn’t get around to using the mug. I already owned a mug for the times I drank hot beverages, and that wasn’t often.

As I recovered, I put some of the things away for future use, (God forbid I end up as sick as that again in the near future, I thought.) The mug sort of sat there on the dresser though.

Once I was myself again, and could think clearly the following week, I decided that such a heartfelt gesture deserved more than to collect dust, waiting for the all too rare cup of tea, (and the never to happen cup of coffee.)

The medicines I could use. The trash can would of course hold trash. (And still does in my bathroom to this day.) Food was eaten. But the mug…

It hit me later when I opened a drawer on my desk, and heard pens and pencils rolling around. I grabbed them all up, and searched the room for some strays, and placed them in the mug. My reasoning was that even if I never drank anything from it, the mug would still be used, frequently, as a place to always know where to look for my pens and pencils.

And so it was that I was rarely had to search for a writing implement for the rest of college. Or any time since then, in fact. This picture was taken just 15 minutes before I wrote this post; I still use if for the same purpose I did all those years ago. I don’t think it has been void of a pen or pencil since the first ones I ever placed in it.

The friend who gave it to me is still in my life. She is, in fact, my “cousin”… made an honorary member of my family by Ty Declaration not long into the Facebook era when we found each other.

I plan to keep the mug forever as one of the top proper gestures of friendship I’ve ever received.

Will I ever drink anything out of it? I don’t know. I do drink tea more often now. I may have to consult with my cousin, to see what she thinks. But then where would I put my pens and pencils?