Broken

Linda didn't realize that her left palm was slightly cut until she saw bloody jagged broken glass on the kitchen's tile floor. Hydrogen peroxide and an extra large bandage dismissed that inconvenient problem,because what was once a large,exquisite, green colored,etched,crystal serving bowl had shattered into too many pieces to count, and those emerald shards had all her attention. " Can't put Humpty together again," Linda mused,and with that fleeting thought,she exhaled loudly. She reached down and picked up two of the largest fragments, staring at them as if they were usable pieces for reassembling an impossible puzzle that lay before her. "Damn it," she spewed, and Linda's concentrated scowl couldn't work any desired magic.Her self- directed anger gave way to sentimental tears, and she left the kitchen momentarily to get a broom and dust pan, all the while sighing and sobbing.This strong reaction to the accidental event surprised her, and Linda began shaking her head in disbelief at her clumsiness. She had reached carefully for the bowl, and had gingerly washed and dried it. Placing her small treasure back on the counter, she left to set the dining room table for Thanksgiving dinner; guests would be arriving soon.She returned to get the beautiful bowl, and as Linda was picking it up, the oven's timer buzzer sounded, and at that exact second of distraction, she dropped it.She was briefly frozen, experiencing disbelief and denial that she had caused the demise of this family heirloom.Linda was supposed to be the keeper and protector of her mother's gift. Mom had gotten the bowl originally from her grandmother, after all, and now the pieces on the floor were all that was left of the only item that Linda owned from her great- grandmother.Over 150 years the bowl had endured,only to come to this inelegant end. Linda swept up the glass pieces and dropped them into the trash can, but she saved one remnant about the size of a half dollar that would be put in her jewelry box as a memento of all that the keepsake had represented. Staring at the trash, she briefly mourned the dish's loss and asked her maternal ancestors' forgiveness for the unfortunate accident. Linda could hear her mom's voice reminding her that, ultimately, a dish is just a dish. So Linda put the broken piece of green glass in her apron pocket, put some water on her face,and then checked on the turkey in the oven.