Keeping them for good

Not too long ago, my mother gave me two pairs of vintage high heels from the fifties. They were barely worn. One reason for this is that my parents went out to parties so rarely that she probably never put them on. My Dad's annual Christmas party was one of the rare times I can remember seeing them dress up and go out.

The other reason is that she was probably "keeping them for good".

When you keep things for good, the implication is that there will be some other occasion coming up that will be better, more important, and somehow more worthy of our attention than the present moment. Now just isn't quite good enough. Later holds more promise.

So I learned to keep things for good, too.

For a time, I had a number of pieces in my closet that still contained price tags. I was keeping them for good.

This past weekend I had a few friends over for something to eat before the kd lang concert. While I was arranging the appetizers on a plate, I noticed a box of decorative side plates that someone had given me as a housewarming present...when I moved into my last place.

They're beautiful. Each one has a line-drawing of a different high heel -- a sling back, a stiletto, a fur covered mule. There are black squiggles around the rim.

I realized, as I admired them through the packaging, that I was keeping them for good.

So, not only did my guests enjoy eating off the good plates on Saturday night, let history show that I enjoyed my peanut butter covered breakfast muesli on my new plates this morning.

And it was good.