Farewell, My Punch Bowl
A long, long time ago, I bought a punch bowl. Or maybe someone gave me a punch bowl; I don’t remember. My trusty punch bowl has been with me that long; it’s followed me to six different houses now, patiently waiting on basement shelves and stacked among boxes in the garage for the right opportunity.
The thing is, you never know when you might need a punch bowl. For instance, you might want to throw someone a bridal shower and offer a nice, fruity punch (matched to one of the bridal colors, of course), or you might want to serve a festive eggnog punch at your next holiday party. At least that’s what I told myself — although admittedly, I didn’t serve punch at my daughter’s graduation party because, well, no one seems to drink punch much any more.
Last week, I was rearranging the boxes in the garage again and my eyes fell on the punch bowl once again. “You’d better hang on to that; you might want to serve a nice alcoholic punch with a pretty ice ring at your next cocktail party,” a little voice said. “Or you could use it to make a really large batch of trifle.”
Trifle! I hadn’t thought of that. But I knew it was time, so I steeled myself and replied in my firmest voice, “Look, we haven’t used the punch bowl once in twenty-five years. If we do want to make trifle for the entire state of Rhode Island, we can borrow a punch bowl from someone else. It’s time to say goodbye. Someone else will give this punch bowl a better home.”
So the tattered box was picked up by the DAV last week – along with some other odds and ends – and now there is more room and a little less stuff in the garage.
Is there a punch bowl taking up space in your life? Or an old wedding dress, or a bowling ball, or tires or an exercise bike? Perhaps it’s time to relinquish it to a more committed owner and enjoy the added space and energy that fewer possessions offer.
If you decide to surrender your punch bowl, I’d love to hear from you.
1 comment April 12, 2008
