...although not in that sense. That happened a long time ago!
My first marble was a white Cat's Eye and I thought it was beautiful. I found it one day before I had any of my own. I was delighted with it. One day a boy challenged me to a game of marbles. I had my one, beloved marble. He had his handful. And I lost it.
I didn't really consider the game permanent. I'd assumed I would get my marble back at the end. But I didn't. Despite my pleas, that was the game, he told me. He got to keep my marble. And I was left with nothing.
For some reason I remembered this recently, and it started a train of thought. How many times do we 'play' with the precious things in our lives, thinking we won't lose them, or do any harm? A spouse's trust. A friend's confidence. A child's dream.
These things - so beautiful - we can so easily treat with carelessness. I wrote a song once called 'breakable'. One of the main lines was - 'don't run too fast with a heart in your hands' - because it is so breakable.
What are the important things in our lives? Do we realise how important they truly are? How would we feel if we lost them?
2 comments:
Wow what a revelation and a powerful reminder of how easy it is to gamble with the things we love.
i came to you via Lynette's blog party, and i just wanted to let you know that this small picture of your childhood, of that white marble, is so heartache-ingly lovely. and i love that line in the song you wrote. i don't know why i feel it so strongly, but that white marble makes me think of my son who I lost when I was 18 weeks pregnant, and this post just brings me comfort in an odd way. so thank you for writing it.
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