The Little Star
Dear Friend,
I have noticed something curious.
Some memories do not arrive because we go looking for them.
Sometimes they are waiting quietly inside the smallest things.
Today, it was a little star.
Not the sort that shines in the evening sky.
The sort that rests in a jar of spices.
Its name is star anise.
I had never given it much thought before.
It has the gentle fragrance of licorice and looks as though someone gathered a tiny star from the night sky and tucked it onto a kitchen shelf.
As I dropped one into my cup of tea, I found myself smiling.
Not because of the tea.
Because of the memory that arrived with it.
Years ago, I stood in the spice aisle searching for star anise.
I had never purchased it before, but an old recipe had made me curious.
After looking high and low, I finally admitted defeat.
The little stars simply weren't there.
Just then, someone walked around the corner.
For a moment we both looked surprised.
Then we laughed.
It was an old friend I hadn't seen in years.
As it happened, she was holding a recipe in her hands.
She was looking for star anise too.
Out of all the grocery stores.
Out of all the aisles.
Out of all the spices.
There we stood, searching for the very same little star.
Neither of us found it that day.
Instead, we found each other.
I hadn't thought about that afternoon in a very long time.
Not until I spotted a bottle of star anise at another store this week.
This time I brought it home.
Not because I needed it.
Because curiosity finally won.
The tea was lovely.
Warm.
Comforting.
Just a hint of licorice.
But I think my favorite part wasn't the flavor at all.
It was the reminder that the smallest things sometimes carry the biggest memories.
A familiar scent.
An old recipe.
A tiny spice shaped like a star.
Who would imagine such little things could quietly guide us back to people we were happy to remember?
I suppose memories are rather like that.
They travel lightly.
Waiting patiently until something familiar invites them home.
Until next time, may you discover a little wonder in the ordinary things around you.
You never know what memories may be quietly waiting there.
With warm wishes,
Paisley Dragon
