Red Heart Bookends

I collect hearts.  The first trip to Florida that my husband and I had together, we took a day trip to the National Seashore near Cape Kennedy.  It was there that I found my first heart-shaped shell.  We’ve been keeping my eye out for stone or shell or decorative hearts that we could purchase ever since.  We found a stone heart in Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri on our honeymoon.  We found a large stone heart in Cozumel, Mexico when we left our first cruise boat to walk around the port (my husband actually had to climb into the water to get it).  We bought a unique stone heart at the Museum in downtown Houston, and so on.   

We have a diverse collection for which my son made me a steel shadow box to display most of them in.  It’s lovely.  On my living room bookshelves sits a pair of large red hearts resting on a black square base.  Between them are many beloved books.  They were a purchase made on an afternoon shopping excursion with my mother.  We found them at Pier One.  Each time I view those bookends, I have to smile as they remind me not only of the collection we have but also of the cherished time I spend with my mom.  Having moved close to my parents again after all these years has been a precious blessing.  I love you mom and dad.

I suppose what I’m trying to share with you is not the need to start a collection, but the importance of valuing your relationships with family and friends.  You may not be interested in a set of red heart- shaped bookends, but there is something out there that can remind you of the treasured relationships you hold in your hands.  Those relationships maintain a value that can never be replaced.  Even though it may be a struggle at times, it's important to hold on to them with loving arms for life as we know it is much too short.  My hope is that you have your own version of the red heart-shaped bookends memory to live on in your heart.