The leader of our writing group suggested a prompt we might want to use for our next meeting.

Take a walk around your home/apartment.
Find an object that you have out that means something to you. Tell us the story behind that object. Try to write a description of that object so that we can see it in our mind. Tell us why it is important to you and what memories it holds for you. It might be the afghan on the back of the couch that someone made for you, a vase that was a wedding gift, or a photo that marks a special occasion like a wedding, etc. Pick something that you have a lot of feelings about and put those feelings on paper.

I immediately knew it was the beautiful Japanese bowl that sits on the coffee table sometimes; sometimes on the dining table; sometimes on the book shelf.  I love looking at it from different angles.

My dear Uncle Jack gave the bowl to me several years ago.  Jack died three months ago.  The last few times I’d seen him, he looked sad and ill.  He had gone from a robust, apple-cheeked man to a thin shell.

I like to remember him when he was healthier.  One of those times was when my husband and I went to visit him in Medford, Oregon, where he lived for several years

He had moved to Oregon from southern California to live with his partner, Bob.  They met in college years and years before, but Jack went on to marry Shirley and have two children, never acknowledging to his family that he was gay, but we all knew.

A few years after Shirley died, Jack made the move to Medford to live with Bob.

Jack and Bob were part-time antique dealers and rented space in a large, antique co-op in Medford.

He took my husband and me to the co-op, and I ended up buying a few, small items.  As we were leaving, I admired the beautiful bowl.   Jack said, “Please take this as my gift to you.  We’re trying to downsize, and we’re really not making much profit these days.  I’d rather someone who loves it, have it.”

The bowl is the size of a regular salad bowl, with aqua blue as its base color.  It has red and yellow designs and symbols running through it.  It almost looks as if they are carved or burned into the bowl.

Until this writing prompt, I had  never noticed the base on which it sits.  It’s blue and about half an inch high.  Just plain aqua blue without designs.  Would I have ever noticed it if I hadn’t been prompted?

The prompt turned out to be a gift especially for me to make me remember Jack and that time in Medford when he was robust and happy.