KEEPER

I received a beautiful ode the other day and wish to share part of it with anyone who may read...

Keeper

Their
marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best
friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now,
Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house
dress; lawn mower in his hand, and dish-towel in hers.
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, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to
be wasteful.. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things
away meant you knew 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.