A Cup of Coffee?

What I Need Around Me


“We all have the same needs. It’s the way we fill them that makes us different”. Who was it that said that to me? And when was it? That really doesn’t matter I suppose but I so clearly remember it being said and that it was said in connection with me not wanting to throw, or give, something away. It was said possibly about some thing that I no longer used or needed but wanted to hang onto anyway. Were they encouraging me to get rid of “it” or saying “its okay you should keep “it” if that’s what will make you feel good”?

I once lost everything in a house fire, but no one was home at the time and we were all just thankful for each other. The things could be replaced, or could they? The entire collection of photos of my children when they were babies and all those snapshots of all those birthdays, camping trips, holidays and other times now are only a memory. Some are bright others are dim. They come and go, they tease me with half remembered places and things.

Now I hug my photos close and make sure I’m not the only one who has a copy, I make copies and give them to people. I save copies on my computer and send the out over the net. They, of all possible things are most important to me.

Then there is the farie that lives on the dash of my car (bought for me by a friend when we shared a road trip) I really don’t like to start out on a trip without her, and the plastic frog the lives on my keyboard. The books that line my shelves would be very hard to give up. I know because I keep trying to give them away and some of them I just can’t seem to let go of. They are old and some of them are tattered but they are a part of me.
Having lost everything once and knowing that life goes on, I went to some friends and family members and ask them “what item of mine is in that picture of me in your mind when you think of me?” They all answered “A cup of coffee”.