Susan's Thursday morning note October 26, 2006 Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote Desires - frustration with not being able to give those we love their desires Beauty of a moment
Good morning! Do I start with good morning if it’s still so dark out that it seems like the middle of the night? Who knows! I considerate a good morning if I hear and smell coffee percolating, and there is stillness coming from whose-it’s bedroom! So, if that is the qualification for “good morning” – there you go! (Stu just entered the scene and bowed to the coffee maker – I’m sure a psychiatrist could come up with some therapy ideas for us!)
The reason for my being up at this ridiculous hour (5:00) is that the little whose-it I was mentioning earlier believed at 4:40 that it was time to make the final decision between transforming himself today into Spiderman or a mid-evil knight for several occasions in his world today. After a bowl of Life cereal, and brilliant coercion on my part, the huge decision on his end has been postponed for at least another hour. It’s a fine line between being overcome with the absolute cuteness of the moment, and the dark hidden desire to give the child some sort of sleeping pill that will keep him asleep for about three days!
Now – to try to organize a thought for you… (smile!) This week I pulled down a famous novel that has been looking down at me for years from my bookshelf. Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote. Obviously, the reason I bought this book several years ago was because of the romance in the title, but I never actually cracked the cover! So this week I pulled this down, and realized there was a short, 10-page short story at the end of the book. My attention span was ready for a 10-page story, so I chose to once again put the original goal on a back burner. I loved the little story called A Christmas Memory which is a description about the friendship of an old poor woman and a young child. It’s actually a very sad story, but so full of love between these two. One comment that she made to him when she couldn’t give him his greatest Christmas desire reads,
“It’s bad enough in life to do without something you want; but confound it, what gets my goat is not being able to give somebody something you want them to have.”
Isn’t that true with our lives – so many frustrations on not being able to solve the problems of those we love? Can you imagine not being able to get on our knees and leave it before our God who DOES have this power?!?! Incredible sense of security to KNOW that God can and will do his perfect plan in all of our lives. We must just live for each day and do all that is within our powers to give what we are able.
At one moment in the story the older woman was having a “great moment” in her little life. She exclaimed, “As for me, I could leave the world with today in my eyes.” Isn’t that a beautiful thought? So, what I am trying to do is seek out the preciousness of moments in each of my days (a beautiful sky, a silly knight stabbing me, a huge chested Superman saving me, a husband bringing me coffee, peace from prayer, your smile coming in the store or through notes to me… I could actually go on all day with what makes life LIFE.) May you not look today at what will be…could be…might be… in your future – and TRY to appreciate little teeny tiny moments that you could “leave the world with” in your eyes!
Have a great week – watch out for the goblins, witches, knights, Spidermen, ballerinas, Disney characters, carpenters, etc. walking our neighborhoods – and make sure you don’t come to the store after giving them their entire bag of candy! Ha! Thank you so much for all of your notes, encouragement, and business. Another 40 boxes came in this week – ridiculous!!! There is a new art section in the store now – let me know what you’d like me to carry & I’ll look into it for all of you. Have a great week (and if it’s not seeming great in your world – may you have some special teeny tiny moments to help you get through your personal circumstances!!!) Susan
Work Cited:
Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany's : A Short Novel and Three Stories. New York: Random House, Incorporated, 1994.