"Whats on your table?"

One Christmas, my aunt gave a vase to my brother and a vase to me. They looked just look alike and came from my grandparents’ home. Here’s what her note with the vase said: “This vase is one of a pair, just as you’re one of two brothers. Now just because they’re a pair doesn’t mean they have to be identical. Each one has its beauty marks, bumps and flaws, just as you do. But they were made to be together or to work together, just as you were. And no matter where each vase goes, he always knows he has a brother somewhere…

“Let this vase remind you of family, and most importantly, of being a sibling. There are few bonds in this world as tight or as tough to keep together. As your grandfather said, ‘Sometimes you’ve got to treat each other like strangers. You know, with good manners and respect, the way you’d treat somebody you don’t know.’” She concluded with, “But most of all, love one another all you can.”

That vase is on a table in our family room where I see it everyday, and remember to thank God for my brother, and my aunt.