My mom sent this to me today and I liked it!  It kind of reminds me of how I grew up... my parents were always fixing things and making do, and now I get to do the same things with my own family.  Some days I get discouraged when there doesn't seem to be enough money, and then I am reminded of what is most important in my life.  Reminders like this get me through the hard times, and during those times I am most especially thankful to my beautiful family!  I am all too aware of how important it is to love your family while they are here, and thankful for beautiful memories with my dad now that he is not.  

My parents in Alaska, 2005

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;

Mom in a house dress, 

baby in one hand, and dish-towel in the other.

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 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!

  Island Park, 2004

 

                 Layton park, 2009