Something Old, Something New

I first came across the expression: "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" in the books of Laura Ingals Wilder. I remember Laura getting married so vividly, all about the blue dress she wore and how nervous she was! For my own wedding, which was fairly unconventional, I did not feel the need to adhere to the saying, though my shoes were blue.

As I've started a few new roles this spring I've found new meaning for the old phrase. When getting married means starting a new life it is comforting to find significance in the items that will accompany you. Starting in a new role can have a similar feeling.

Sitting in the kitchen of the little house on Jackson street where the Shapiro family lived out their lives nearly a century ago I was fairly anxious. I wanted to do justice to Mrs. Shapiro and the heritage that she represents. I was amazed by the level of comfort I took in the items that I had gathered to start me on this path: my trusty lace-up boots that carried me as Lizzy Sullivan when I was here 12 years ago, a new apron I stitched up this week, a bowl of horseradish made by my mother for Passover from roots my dad dug out of their garden, and a glass of tea wrapped in a blue tea towel in the old Russian way.

From now on I think all my new portrayals will start with something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.