A Donkey In The Kitchen Cupboard

My generous mother and father had the woodcarver make this nativity set. The last few years it has sat on the living room coffee table. My two and then three year old grandson would go into the living room and play with the pieces. I emphasized that he needed to be gentle with the woodcarvings and his nature was to comply. The set is so large that I wouldn't have noticed if a piece was missing, but weeks after my grandson played with the set, I opened a kitchen cupboard and found the donkey. I giggled and giggled and told everyone about it. What was his little mind thinking?
It's been two years and besides being a beautiful work of art, the nativity set has tremendous value because, 1) it is a treasured gift from my parents and 2) my continual delight from the memory of my grandson putting the donkey in the kitchen cupboard.
Only once or twice, but admitted with shame, I tried to clean up the clutter in a daughter's bedroom without her. I was indiscriminate as to what had to go and what stayed. I didn't take into account what objects had value because of my daughter's experience with the object: where or whom it came from, or how it came into her possession. When I tackled clutter with my daughters, I was always surprised what was allowed to stay or go.
This came full circle when I visited an aquantance's new home. The woman has a beautiful new home that she has decorated with objects that are old, worthless and distracting from the decor of the home. But it was what she values-neither I nor any visitor to her home understands the story behind the plaque or the dime-store painting. I finally understood that beauty is indeed in the eye and the heart of the beholder.