A Story About Patience, Friendship, and a Mug

This is the story of a woman (me) who has a strange obsession with having the exact right tea mug, learning to patient, and a friend who reunites this woman with her mug.  

I am a huge hot tea drinker and have a few demands for the perfect tea mug.  First, it has to feel right in my hands. Since I am right handed and the fingers on my right hand don't bend completely, I need a handle that allows plenty of finger room yet isn't too thick or too thin.  Next, the mug needs to reflect my personality and call out to me that it is right for me.  I like to have a connection with my mug.  Lastly, it needs to be distinct enough that everyone knows it is mine and won't use it.  Several years ago, I found the perfect mug at Starbucks.  I loved the colors and the feel of it in my hand.  The connection was immediate.  When RA Guy, Lene Andersen, and I began working on photos for the first Our Hands Can! Photo Book produced by Show Us Your Hands!, I submitted a photo of my hands lifting my mug.

For quite a while, my mug and I enjoyed each day together. Then one day,  I made a big mistake. I decided to take my mug with me in the car.  I had done this many times before, but this time it was different because I  was also holding onto the leash of a very excited border collie.  The mug fell out of my hand, onto the porch, and broke into many pieces.  My heart was so sad. I felt like I had lost a friend. 

Now, you may think, "It was just a mug.  What's the big deal?"  You are right.  It was just a mug, but it was MY mug.  It had shared many cups of tea with me along with many conversations, tears, and happy moments. I felt a connection to it.  For over a year I have been checking out mugs in coffee houses and stores.  My daughter keeps rolling her eyes and saying, "Mom, just buy it.  It is cute."  I hold the mug in my hand, think about how it will feel on a daily basis, and end up not buying it.  The mug never seems to call out to me that it is the right one for me. Occasionally  I think, "Maybe I can make this the right one."  But as we know with love, we can't force someone or something to be something it isn't.  So, I have been patient.  I have reminded myself over and over that the right mug will come along.  Just be patient.  

Last week I received a message from my good friend Rheumatoid Arthritis Guy.  He was at a baseball game and spotted a mug that reminded him of mine.  When I saw the photo, I burst out laughing because the mug he saw in the hands of the gal sitting next to him at a ball game was the EXACT replica as the one I had broken.   I messaged him back to snatch the mug when the lady turned her head.  Luckily, he is more honest than me and simply told the gal my tea mug story and showed her a photo of it on the site.  She washed out the mug she had bought at a second hand store and gave it to him to give to me.

Today, my mug arrived!!!!!  It is nice to have my long lost connection back in my own hands. And now, it is even better because this new one comes with a story of its own.  I am glad that I was patient and waited rather than jumping on the first good looking mug.  Sometimes the best things come with patience and of course having a good friend keeping you in mind at all times doesn't hurt either.  Thanks Rheumatoid Arthritis Guy.  You are the best.