Sunday rerun: Relief pitcher

Peggy's childhood was the stuff of storybooks, the only problem being that these books were written by Charles Dickens. There are but few artifacts from her childhood - some beat-up old snapshots, one or two items around the kitchen. All the rest of her childhood things wound up in the hands of her brothers Pecksniff and Skimpole, her sister Miss Mowcher, and her mother, Mrs Micawber. (I told you it was Dickensian!)

Peggy lets things go, so she doesn't fuss about the past. But for many years, she has remembered a certain pitcher that the family used in their kitchen for iced tea and water. Peggy also does not obsess, so she has kept an eye out for a similar pitcher, but she never turned it into a lifequest, with the scouring of antique shops, eBay surfing and oldstuff.com frenzy that consume so many lives. She just kept figuring that the pitcher would show up some day.

On Sunday (you know where this is going!) we went up the road to see our nephew and niece's new house under construction. Just slightly smaller than the Pentagon, it promises to be the sort of place in which happy family members gather to guzzle iced tea merrily. Then, we drove along to an antique store in BelAir. We like antiques and find they add a homey atmosphere, which is perfect for me, since I think that the Cracker Barrel stores and eateries that dot the nation's highways represent the pinnacle of hi-class decoration. So, we were only there for a few minutes, when along came Peggy back to where I was idly idling through some old LIFE magazines ("Country Doctor Heals Family, Horses; Takes Pay in Biscuits, Ham"). She found the pitcher! Voilà! The untrammeled bliss in Peggy's eyes - priceless! I can't describe how happy it made me to see her so happy!



Now, to many, this was just luck. I say it's divine intervention for someone who gives so much to others all the time. Peggy takes care of me all the time, and even more when I am sick, and then she does a million things for the rest of the family, for our friends, for her work gang... I say, Somebody bigger than you and I put that pitcher in her path to say "Well done...here's a little something for you."