Things We Keep

>> >> 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 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, 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. >> >>


>> This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with


>> bad report cards..... 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! >>





>> I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent





>> it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send





>> this to those people that are 'keepers' in your life. Send it back to the >> person that sent it to you if they too are a keeper. >>


>> Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you


>> know they are always there. >> >> >>





>> Life is too short for drama & petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh >> insanely, love truly and forgive >>quickly. >> >



Thanks Millie McG.