A small bottle of Champagne and the white wardrobe

A small bottle of Champagne is sitting in our fridge since a very long time. I can’t remember if we bought it, or if it was given to us; I just know it is stored there in the side door waiting for a special occasion.

What special occasions call for Champagne anyway? Engagement or wedding announcements, a lottery win or unexpected good news, like a promotion. I can’t really come up with too many reasons that would ask for a glass of Champagne. We could have opened it New Year’s evening, but we went to bed long before midnight –like so often before.

I cleaned the fridge out today and looked at the bottle. We will have to put in our will, if we will keep it any longer. I wonder, if it will still taste right. Doesn’t it turn sour after a while? How much longer are we going to keep it there, waiting for something special to happen?

Do we need a special occasion to open a bottle of Champagne or could we turn an ordinary day into something special, by doing something out of the ordinary?

I remember the white wardrobe in my Grandmother’s bedroom. It was her room and I wasn’t really allowed to be in there. The wardrobe was right beside her bed, it was smaller than the other ones and it wasn’t used for clothes; it was full of all the things she treasured.

I was not often in her bedroom, so I really didn’t know what all she stored in there. I knew that a few hat boxes, with the hats that she wore on special occasions, were in there, along with pictures, cards and many other things.

One year for Christmas I had made here a special tablecloths. It was a piece of linen and I had embroidered the edges with flowers that she liked; I had worked on it for a very long time. She loved it very much, she told everybody about it and she showed it around, then it got folded and wrapped and she stored in her wardrobe for special occasions.

Emptying this wardrobe was one of the hardest things I had to do, after she had passed away. Every box and every shelf was full of memories; it was full of the things she had cherished. Many of them were little gifts that she had gotten from me. All the things, that she thought were too good for everyday use, were hidden in there.

Even now, so many years later, I remember the sadness I had felt, when I realized that all those beautiful and special things were hardly used and enjoyed by her.

The cute little hat, the special table clothes and the handbag and gloves she only used when we left town; she left all of it behind in almost mint condition.

Why don’t I open the bottle of Champagne tonight and serve us a glass in the evening and while I am on it, why don’t I use the good glasses that we hardly use.

Maybe it is really true and we should drink Champagne for no reason at all.

We tend to reserve things for special occasions, when we really should be having it all year-round. I need to make sure that we don’t leave a white wardrobe behind as well.