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Some things we keep...
I grew up in the fifties with practical parents --
a Mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil
after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the
original recycle queen, before they had a name for
it...
A Father who was happier getting old shoes fixed
than buying new ones.
Their marriage was good, their dreams focused.
Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can
see them now, Dad in trousers, t-shirt and a hat
and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand,
dishtowel in the other.
It was the time for fixing things -- a curtain rod,
the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the
hem in a dress. Things we keep.
It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me
crazy.
All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted
just once to be wasteful.
Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant
there'd always be more.
But then my Mother died, and on that clear summer's
night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was
struck with the pain of learning that sometimes
there isn't any "more."
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up
and goes away...never to return.
So...while we have it...it's best we love it.....and
care for it.....and fix it when it's broken.....and
heal it when it's sick.
This is true.....for marriage.....and old
cars.....and children with bad report cards.....and
dogs with bad hips.....and aging parents.....and grandparents.
We keep them because they are worth it, because we
are worth it.
Some things we keep.
Like a best friend that moved away -- or -- a
classmate we grew up with. Or even people that we've
come to know and grown to enjoy that make us laugh...or
they cry with us, listen to us and remind us how many
blessings we have in both our joy and our pain.
There are just some things that make life important,
like people we know who are special.....and so, we keep
them close!
Little girl | Keepers | Happiness | Daddy's Pink Rose | Hwy 109 | The Flag | The world is mine | A blessing | My wish for you | How to plant a garden | How to install love | There is
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