Welcome to RCF - WHF

rb2d2 · Sep 25, 2004

Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a
wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, work shirt and a hat; and Mom in a
house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel 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,
re-heating leftovers, renewing; I wanted just once to be wasteful? Waste meant
affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But when my mother died, and I was standing in that clear morning light 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 who misbehave at times...Dogs and cats 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. There are
just some things that make life important, Like people we know who are special...And
so, we keep them close!

Heart

mojo · Feb 03, 2007