Death and Value
Death and Value
We give “value” to all kinds of things, some times in terms of money, and sometimes in terms of usefulness. Yet I think there is another set of values that we overlook at our peril – we value things by what we had to give up to get them.
My mother, until she died, was constantly worrying about what would happen to all her valuable things in the house. After her dearth we discovered that even though these things may have cost a lot of money, no one wanted them at the auction. When she had selected and bought those objects, years before, it was with a view to demonstrating how far she’d come in life. She’d risen above her background to live a rather more glamorous life than her school friends. So, of course these things were valuable. She’d given up her home, her native language, and much of her cultural background when she married my father. No wonder the objects she bought were so “valuable” to her. They were compensating her for all she’d lost.
