Healing

In the late 1990's we returned from summer vacation to find the back basement door hanging open.  Someone had broken into our house and had time to dig through everything, stealing many thousands of dollars of items.  The sense of invasion of our personal space, coupled with the loss of many family items caused pain and insecurity that carried forward in our lives for many years. 

One item that became a symbol was a Hall teapot that my partner planned to give me as a Christmas present.  The teapot had been dumped on the floor and broken, except for the lid which was intact. We listed the teapot in our insurance claim, and looked through local antique stores to find a replacement.  We did find one teapot in the same style, however, it was a bright, fire engine red; not what we wanted.  We finally settled for a cash payment from the insurance.

I kept the lid, hoping to find a teapot missing its lid.  I searched Ebay, and for over 15 years wandered through antique stores, with no matching blue pot.

This summer, visiting the same place we had been visiting those many years ago, we were wandering through a large antique barn.  I saw the same Hall teapot design, missing a lid, for $5.00.  It must have been used as a flower pot because there was a crust of soil still on the inside near the top.  I walked away without buying it because it was that same fire engine red, and didn't match.  But the more I thought about it, the more I knew it was time to bring the two unmatched pieces together.  With a soaking and scrubbing, this is what they look like together.

Over the years, we still remember stolen family items, such as a grandfather's pocket watch and a wedding ring.  They were tangible connections to people important to us. 

This combination of these two pieces, worthless by themselves, into a usable and visible presence for everyday use reflects our healing from that time.  It is not the way I wanted the healing to be, yet it is what is possible. And that is enough.