February 4

I am probably preaching to the choir here, but if by some chance you're not regularly reading Sister Betty, you simply must start doing so. You will come away with something to remember and think about. In my case, I sometimes wind up thinking of a parallel memory.

For instance, this entry about a chiming clock brings to mind my late, beloved friend and former neighbor, Kathryn, and the music box. Kathryn had gone to Germany to visit her daughter and career-military son-in-law at some point when I was a teenager. When she returned, she told of a wonderful trip into Switzerland. At a shop there, she found a lovely wooden music box.

And I was utterly enchanted by that box. I've always loved music boxes, but this was the first one I had ever seen where you could see the works. You can do this with no worry about damaging anything, because there's a sheet of glass covering them. All you have to do is lift the lid of the box and flip the switch to see the magic. And hear it, of course.

Time went on, and Kathryn was preparing to move to a retirement community. Her two daughters and her grandchildren had been told to select the things they wanted from her home, and had done so. I was given the honor of being her extra daughter, which meant I was next on the list. The one thing I wanted was the music box. So I said that if neither of the girls nor any of the grandchildren had asked for it, I would love to have it. I said I wanted her to leave it to me when she died, rather than depriving herself of its charms.

Kathryn had other ideas, though. She did check with her daughters to make sure neither of them or their children had forgotten to ask for the box---which was the right thing to do, of course---then brought it to me. She said that she had always seen the joy I got from it, and it would make her happy to know that I would have something I loved that would make me think of her.

Of course, I would have thought of her without that reminder. But it does bring me much joy to have the music box. And I'm still utterly enchanted by it.

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