I have long believed that kitchen utensils are a mirror on our lives. Even so, I found this eery. Twenty three years ago, this rusting heart-shaped cake tin was brand new. I used it to bake my own wedding cake. My husband-to-be said he liked fruit cake but hated glacé cherries so I baked him a rich dark cake with no cherries and chopped up dried apricots to take their place. I kept the tin all these years and used it sometimes to bake birthday cakes for the children. I think I imagined that one day I would use it to bake an anniversary cake. But mostly it lived unused on the bottom shelf of a dresser in the hallway until this week when it suddenly fell at my feet as I walked past. Obviously I know this was just a strange accident (I am extra clumsy at the moment) but it felt like an omen because my husband left me two months ago and I will never use this rusty heart to bake our anniversary cake. But when I picked it up to put it back it still felt as solid as it did twenty three years ago.