Did you read Sophie’s Choice? It is one of the few books I wish I had not read because it has haunted me ever since. A mother’s is forced to choose life for one child, although it means death for the other. So when I heard California’s Governor Schwarzenegger refer to his choice of budget cuts as “a Sophie’s Choice,” my gut heaved.
Which brings me to a choice I made a year or so ago. Totally trivial, in the scheme of life, but within my petty existence, it seemed a big decision. I owned a wonderful bocage gardening group. I loved everything about it. Very crisp bocage, great enamels.
Fast forward many years, and along came another similar gardening group. Although I had never bought a duplicate, the second figure group tempted me because it was PERFECT. I am a sucker for perfection, so I bought it too—at a distance, from an image. It couldn’t possibly be as nice as the first group, I told myself, but I just had to see.
What are friends for if not to help with these decisions? I stood the two figures besides each other, and sent their picture to two friends. Both said it was a no-brainer: figure group 2 was the keeper. NOT what I wanted to hear, but I knew it was right. With great pain, I gave figure group 1 to a dealer to sell for me. It flew out of his stock within moments, and I felt SO much better. My beautiful ceramic child had a loving home and a collector out there was really happy.
Last night, I looked at figure group 2 again and knew I had made the right choice. No regrets. Perfection is never over-rated.