A Pear to Remember

So I am getting ready to put my fake pears in storage. In a way, it's a sad goodbye...because, once anything gets placed in the dark recesses of my storage room, they are almost always never heard from again. It's a forgotten place. It's a "I might need it again in the future" place, where things are never needed in the future. I've come to learn this as I have made my infrequent, quick visits to the storage room. They are quick because I'm always on a mission to get that one thing, and because it's not the most inviting place to hang out in, I leave quickly. As I leave, I glance at the forgotten, once in their limelight, decorating accessories. They are framed pictures, they are mirrors, they are odd candles, and flower arrangements. They are items that I decided on a whim would no longer "work". But for some reason, kept them because "they might work in the future". Yah right.

When I walk the green mile to my storage room, I'm going to be saying an informal goodbye. I remember how much I paid. I remember the store I got them from. I remember how excited I was when I brought them home. I remember putting them in the perfect container in the middle of my kitchen table. I had such high hopes for them. How they would make me feel when I looked at them. Then, Ben started throwing them like tennis balls. I thought it was a stage, but it continued. From that point on, they were stashed on my kitchen counter, out of their limelight and forgotten about.

Then, 2 years later and only a couple of days ago, I discover I new decorating addition to my counters, a gorgeous pair of coffee and tea canisters (of which I drink neither). I needed to make room for them. What do I do with the pears? Since my sister, Lisa, was with me I consulted her for advice. Always decisive, and without hesitation, she said I should put real fruit in the bowl and set them on the center table. Yes. Real fruit! Then they will get eaten more and oh how great that will be!! Ben is grown out of the throwing fake fruit stage...isn't he?? I can do this! I can have a center piece. I can! I can! I am a grown woman! Take the leap and don't look back! Anxiously I remove all the fake pears and put in apples, oranges and bananas. This is genius! I put them in the center of the table. They looked beautiful.

Ben was an angel. No touching of the fruit except for their real purpose...to eat them. But remember when I said Mary is stepping up to the plate and replacing Ben's antics with her own? Yes. As I was busy doing something while she was happily entertaining herself (which should have been my first warning siren...Mary does not happily entertain herself without some distruction), I found my precious fruit bowl. The bananas were crushed in 1 1/2 year old hands to the point that oozing mush was seeping from the seams. The apples were all sampled. The oranges managed to escape unscathed. Who wants to bite into a sour peel? So much for that. I placed my fruit bowl right back on the counter, out of Mary's reach. We'll revisit the lovely table centerpiece idea when she is older. I will succeed!