What’s Hers is Mine, and What’s Mine is Yours
Happy Late Thanksgiving! This holiday is always a special day because it pushes you to acknowledge where your gratitude lies beyond such materialistic things. Although I encourage expressing gratitude for more than just objects, this blog, funny enough, is all about them! Sometimes the things we own can represent more than what they are manufactured to be. At home, the hanging section in my closet is separated into four separate categories: My shirts, sweaters, dresses, and every piece of clothing my mom has handed down to me (or that I have secretly stolen) throughout the past few years. I am sure you can guess which one consists of my most prized possession because, without it, many important functions ought to have been ruined. She always says that “whatever is mine is just as much as yours.” My mother is someone who has always taken pride in dressing her best, and I’m always eyeing the pieces in her closet awaiting the moment she gets tired of it and it becomes mine. I remember when I was younger she would wear this silver bracelet every single day. One (or maybe quite a few) mornings, on the way to middle school, I asked if I could try it on and she just laughed and said you can have it when you are older. Now, both a blessing and a curse, I’m older. I think that the first time the bracelet ever touched my forearm showed me why it actually mattered - her memories were all over it. The object I spent so long staring at on her dainty wrist on the drive to school, now remains on the nightstand closest to my bed. While I don’t wear it every day like she used to, for the right occasion, it makes its grand appearance on my right arm. In a society that is so focused on fast and trendy consumption, it can be difficult to appreciate things in our lives that can be passed down to our own kids someday. If I get lucky, I want to have the same effect my mom had on me with my own daughter. I want her to be able to enjoy memories with everything that was once mine. She can have the dozens of dresses I own while knowing that they represent much more than a piece of fabric. Call me crazy but I find it really nice to think of that aspect in the future because some things are worth keeping for them. Until that time is here, I will keep collecting pretty things in hopes that you can enjoy them one day, because what’s mine is yours whenever you come.
- With love, Fiza Usman
