My Precious

There's something nice about sharing literature and film with friends and family. They provide a common bond, a vocabulary known and understood only by the partakers of that particular book or film.

When I tell my daughter I have found a "kindred spirit", she knows exactly what I mean. Just as with Anne, kindred spirits are rare and dear. We talk of Narnia magic and when it is Winter and never Christmas (a very long trial).

We agree my son-in-law is a Mr. Darcy, which is fine because I like Mr. D. I've called my son a hobbit even though he is nearly six feet tall because he likes to eat many small meals throughout the day (as in, second breakfasts). My grandson is a hobbit because...well, he looks like a hobbit right now. He's three years old with curly dark hair and big feet. Need I say more.

Shared movies have the same affect. There are lines like "I'm shocked, I'm shocked" that we use often or "the usual suspects"...both from Casablanca. How often I have said the quote from Shadowlands when C. S. Lewis tells us, "We read to know we are not alone".

I can't go into a Starbucks without thinking of the scene from You've Got Mail where the Tom Hank's character is describing how we can know who we are just by ordering a coffee. I'm a Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte With Whipped Cream kinda' girl (unless it is evening when we add decaf or I can't button my skirt so low fat becomes part of the description).

However, perhaps no two words from prose, poetry or film is used as often in our home as...my precious. Lovers of Tolkien know, within those two words are a multitude of meanings. For instance, when my son was very ill with Mono, the thermometer was called "my precious". He kept it within a couple feet at all times. We never quite figured out why it brought him comfort but it did. His father's morning crossword puzzles and sports pages from the newspaper are his precious.

So...here is a picture of my precious. It's a thing of beauty, a piece of architecture which has stood proud in many kitchens through the years. If an object can make my heart sing, this one certainly does. As for family and friends, they will put up with me waxing poetic about my precious as long as I continue to use it to bless them.