Another Chance to Shine


We walked through the nearly empty home. It had been my father and mother-in-law’s place for a couple decades, and had been the epicenter of many family gatherings. 

We faced the final thing to pack: my mother-in-law Bernadean’s favorite antique hanging lamp. We’d waited until now for good reason. We both were scared.  It was super fragile, with a delicate bowl-shaped, hand painted globe. 


It had already been broken and repaired twice. The first break had been right after it was purchased—when my father-in-law had tried to move it from its packing box. He searched for an antique specialist to fix it. Then years later, my husband Tom broke it when he had taken the lamp down to make room for extra medical equipment in his parent’s bedroom. It cracked along the same seam as before. Tom found another expert to fix the intricate glass.


So here we were—in his parent’s empty home, all the decades of belongings had been packed and moved, and now we paused in front of the hanging antique lamp. 


We carefully, tediously, and safely removed it from it’s ceiling mounts and placed it in the biggest, safest packing box we had. Marking it with bold letters FRAGILE ANTIQUE LAMP.  We placed it in Bernadean’s storage unit. There really wasn’t anywhere to put it in her new apartment.



But we had made sure she was surrounded by many of her other beautiful antiques, lots of family photos, and many of her delightful treasures. Everything she wanted was put in place, except her beloved antique lamp. 


“I sure wish I could hang my lamp right there.” she said, pointing to the place over her gleaming oak dining table. We put it off and said maybe we'd do it on a future visit. Then we packed up for our 300-mile trip home.


We knew how much she’d given up to live in this smaller place. Her lamp request was heartfelt. What we feared was breaking it again—and this time it would be impossible to fix. But, if we never hung it up, she’d never enjoy it again. So, we recently made another trip back over to visit a few days, with a special antique lamp in mind.


In order to hang it where she wanted, the lamp’s attachments needed to be modified. Tom took a trip to the hardware store. Then two more trips. It took most of the day, but we visited as we worked. It finally hung securely. We turned the light on, and admired its delicate beauty.



We packed our tools to head home. Our visits are always too short with far too many miles separating us. But this time, when we were saying goodbye, we knew that her treasured antique lamp would make life a lot brighter for this amazing woman we love. She had the courage to move and to let go of many things.


We learned that in this season of giving, sometimes it’s not giving something new, but giving something old another chance to shine.

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