Look around at anyone, anything. Look at homes, cars, possessions. It’s clear that people cherish their treasures, and it’s fascinating how varied they are.

“A quantity of precious metals, gems or other valuable objects” is how treasure is defined. I suppose that value is in the eye of the beholder, as treasures are visible and on display across the seasons, across the years.

An old ornament that’s seen better days but which still graces the tree because, once upon a time, it was made by tiny hands. Plates that have a chip here and there, but which belonged to someone no longer with us. An old sweatshirt. A ceramic votive holder that’s been repeatedly re-glued over the years and which would never sell at a garage sale…which is fine, because you’d never dream of doing such a thing in the first place. A car that no longer runs, but which you dream of fixing up because of all the memories you have in it from decades earlier. A new car bought after years of saving.

Some treasures didn’t always start out that way but, over time after we gave them a chance, or maybe after we just never remembered to toss them out, the old can take on a new sheen – one that puts its former patina to shame.

Tonight I am thankful for the new in the old, for the life and nostalgia in the inanimate and for the charm in the rough around the edges. There’s no treasure like the treasures that have a special place in our own hearts.