No Regrets

Over twenty years ago, I lived in an apartment in Arlington, Virginia. My apartment was located in a high-rise building that was a terrific extension of college in that many of the tenants were close to my  age and very friendly. I had a neighbor/friend that lived on one of the floors below me who had a lovely blue parakeet, appropriately named Blue. Always one to have a soft spot in my heart for little creatures, I had an affinity for Blue. Maybe he sensed that fondness from me because he sang beautifully when I visited my friend. I assumed that Blue sang for everyone, but my friend told me otherwise. Blue only sang when he heard my voice. I cared for Blue when my neighbor was out of town and I always enjoyed spending time with him. I don't remember my neighbor's name, but I never forgot Blue. In fact, my friend moved from the apartment building before I did. At the time, she asked me if I wanted to take Blue. I was afraid that I would kill him since I was told how sensitive birds were to their surrounds and how susceptible they were to drafts and changes in temperature. I know that sweet little Blue is long gone, but I regret not taking him to this day.

There was a glass show at the Workhouse Arts Center during the month of May. It was a gorgeous show that I visited at least fifteen times while the work was on display. The reason that I went to view the show so many times is because I fell in love with a particular piece of glass art by the artist Peter VanderLaan. Now, when I say I fell in love, I mean it. This was no mere infatuation. This was full-blown, no time for dating, have to marry it, love. Bear in mind, I love art. That is probably no surprise. I love art, but I usually spend my money on supplies. I also suffer from Jewish guilt that rears its ugly head when I want to spend any sizable amount of money. However, I HAD to have this piece! There was a lot of wrangling involved with my tax attorney husband about this. He pointed out repeatedly that I may break it. There may have been even more wrangling in my own mind. However, after a month of drooling over this gorgeous work of art, I determined that I could not let it go the way that I had let Blue go all those years ago. I was almost skipping with excitement when I brought my glass art home with me. It is in a storage box right now awaiting a display case that will be affixed to the wall, thereby hedging my bets regarding keeping it in one piece.

What does this mean to me? I say it means that I have usually regretted more things that I haven't done rather than the things that I have done, so I finally realized that I should just go for it! I am going to continue this trend. Thanks for reading. ​