Coffee Mugs in The Kitchen

 While helping my friend

Pack for a big move to Chicago

We finally go to the kitchen

Silverware, sharp knives

Plates, spoons, pots, pans

And then, we got to the coffee mugs

He began to tell me stories

About each mug as I carefully

Wrapped each one in newspaper

He told me who he was with on vacation

Who he met while there

What he did, and said he had been to many places several times

The conversation literally stopped me

In my tracks

I got tears in my eyes as he continued with this stories

For it was at that

Very moment

When I realized

The mugs in my kitchen

Were all gifts from my family

And friends who had visited those cities

Not one mug in my kitchen

Was purchased

By me

All of my coffee mugs

Were actually

Their memories from their vacations

Whenever I got home

I packed up those mugs

And donated them to Goodwill